Systems and Methods for Monitoring Objects and Their States by Using Acoustic Signals

ABSTRACT

A computer system is communicably coupled to one or more sensor devices. The computer system obtains a database of stored acoustic signatures characterizing predefined acoustic signals generated by passive tags in response to physical motion of respective monitored objects associated with the passive tags. A first acoustic signal characterized by a respective acoustic signature and generated by a first passive tag is detected. In response, and based on the respective acoustic signature and information in the database, a first monitored object associated with the respective acoustic signature is identified, and a first state of the first monitored object is determined. The determined first state is stored in the database, and an indication of the first state is provided to an associated monitoring service.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is related to U.S. patent application Ser. No.______ (Attorney Docket No. 104248-5104-US), filed on ______, titled“Systems and Methods for Provisioning Devices Using Acoustic Signals,”which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This relates generally to sensor devices, including but not limited tomethods and systems for using acoustic signals to monitor objects andprovision devices.

BACKGROUND

The number of electronic devices typically present in an environment atany given time has increased dramatically. At the same time, these samedevices continue to be improved upon with respect to sensorcapabilities, usability, and advanced features.

Despite such advancements, these devices are often times limited to thefunctionalities that they are individually configured to perform. Evenwhen devices can be configured together, set up frequently requiressignificant user intervention and interaction. Consequently, the breadthof sensor capabilities available in any given environment is typicallyunderutilized for performing basic or advanced tasks with respect to thedevice environment.

SUMMARY

Accordingly, there is a need for methods, devices, and systems formonitoring objects and provisioning devices by detecting and analyzingacoustic signals generated by passive tags. In various implementations,the disclosed functionality complements or replaces the functionality ofsecurity systems, connected home device networks, and systems forprovisioning devices.

In some implementations, a method is performed at a computer system(e.g., a smart device) having one or more processors and memory storinginstructions for execution by the one or more processors, wherein thecomputer system is communicably coupled to one or more sensor devices.The method includes obtaining a database of stored acoustic signaturescharacterizing predefined acoustic signals generated by passive tags inresponse to physical motion of respective monitored objects associatedwith the passive tags. A first acoustic signal characterized by arespective acoustic signature and generated by a first one of thepassive tags is detected. In response to the detecting, and based on therespective acoustic signature and information in the database, a firstmonitored object associated with the respective acoustic signature isidentified, and a first state of the first monitored object isdetermined. The determined first state of the first monitored object isstored in the database, and an indication of the first state of thefirst monitored object is provided to a monitoring service associatedwith the one or more monitored objects. Various combinations of detecteddevices and states could trigger alerts or actions for an end user orsystem.

In some implementations, at least a part of a method is performed at asensor device (e.g., a smart device) having one or more first processorsand first memory storing instructions for execution by the one or morefirst processors, wherein sensor device is communicably coupled to aremote server (e.g., a cloud-computing system). The sensor devicedetects a first acoustic signal characterized by a respective acousticsignature and generated by a first one of a plurality of passive tags.Furthermore, at least a part of the method is performed at the remoteserver having one or more second processors and second memory storinginstructions for execution by the one or more second processors. Theremote server obtains a database of stored acoustic signaturescharacterizing predefined acoustic signals generated by the plurality ofpassive tags in response to physical motion of respective monitoredobjects associated with the plurality of passive tags. In response tothe detection of the first acoustic signal by the sensor device, andbased on the respective acoustic signature and information in thedatabase, the remote server identifies a first monitored objectassociated with the respective acoustic signature, and determines afirst state of the first monitored object. The determined first state ofthe first monitored object is stored in the database, and an indicationof the first state of the first monitored object is provided to amonitoring service associated with the one or more monitored objects.

In another aspect, a method is performed at a computer system (e.g., asmart device) having one or more processors and memory storinginstructions for execution by the one or more processors, wherein thecomputer system is communicably coupled to one or more sensor devices.The method includes obtaining a database of stored acoustic signaturescharacterizing predefined acoustic signals generated by passive tags inresponse to physical motion of the passive tags, wherein the passivetags are associated with non-provisioned devices, and wherein theacoustic signatures are associated with respective sets of executableinstructions for provisioning the non-provisioned devices. A firstacoustic signal characterized by a respective acoustic signature andgenerated by a first one of the passive tags is detected. In response tothe detecting, and based on the respective acoustic signature andinformation in the database, a first one of the non-provisioned devicesassociated with the respective acoustic signature is identified, and afirst one of the respective sets of executable instructions forprovisioning the first non-provisioned device is identified. After, thecomputer system causes execution of the first set of executableinstructions, thereby causing to commence a software process forprovisioning the first non-provisioned device.

In accordance with some implementations, a computer system (e.g., asmart device) includes one or more processors, memory, and one or moreprograms; the one or more programs are stored in the memory andconfigured to be executed by the one or more processors. The one or moreprograms include instructions for performing the operations of any ofthe methods described above. In accordance with some implementations, anon-transitory computer-readable storage medium has stored thereininstructions that, when executed by the computer system, cause thecomputer system to perform the operations of any of the methodsdescribed above.

Thus, computing systems and devices are provided with more efficientmethods for monitoring objects and provisioning devices in anenvironment. These disclosed systems and devices thereby increase theeffectiveness, efficiency, and user satisfaction with such systems anddevices.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the various described implementations,reference should be made to the Description of Implementations below, inconjunction with the following drawings in which like reference numeralsrefer to corresponding parts throughout the figures.

FIG. 1 is a representative smart home environment in accordance withsome implementations.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a representative networkarchitecture that includes a smart home network in accordance with someimplementations.

FIG. 3 illustrates a network-level view of an extensible platform fordevices and services, which may be integrated with the smart homeenvironment of FIG. 1 in accordance with some implementations.

FIG. 4 illustrates an abstracted functional view of the extensibleplatform of FIG. 3, with reference to a processing engine as well asdevices of the smart home environment, in accordance with someimplementations.

FIG. 5 is a representative operating environment in which a video serversystem interacts with client devices and video sources in accordancewith some implementations.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a representative smart device, inaccordance with some implementations.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a representative client device,in accordance with some implementations.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating a representative smart homeprovider server system, in accordance with some implementations.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a representative video serversystem, in accordance with some implementations.

FIG. 10 is a representative smart home environment, in accordance withsome implementations.

FIG. 11A illustrates a tag, a monitored object, and an acousticsignature of a generated acoustic signal, in accordance with someimplementations.

FIG. 11B illustrates a table of acoustic signatures, in accordance withsome implementations.

FIG. 12A illustrates a tag, a non-provisioned device, and an acousticsignature of a generated acoustic signal, in accordance with someimplementations.

FIG. 12B illustrates a table of acoustic signatures, in accordance withsome implementations.

FIGS. 13A-13C illustrate a flowchart representation of a method ofidentifying a monitored object and determining its state, in accordancewith some implementations.

FIGS. 14A-14C illustrate a flowchart representation of a method ofidentifying a non-provisioned device and a set of executableinstructions for provisioning the non-provisioned device, in accordancewith some implementations.

Like reference numerals refer to corresponding parts throughout theseveral views of the drawings.

DESCRIPTION OF IMPLEMENTATIONS

Reference will now be made in detail to implementations, examples ofwhich are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. In the followingdetailed description, numerous specific details are set forth in orderto provide a thorough understanding of the various describedimplementations. However, it will be apparent to one of ordinary skillin the art that the various described implementations may be practicedwithout these specific details. In other instances, well-known methods,procedures, components, circuits, and networks have not been describedin detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of theimplementations.

It will also be understood that, although the terms first, second, etc.are, in some instances, used herein to describe various elements, theseelements should not be limited by these terms. These terms are only usedto distinguish one element from another. For example, a first acousticsignal could be termed a second acoustic signal, and, similarly, asecond acoustic signal could be termed a first acoustic signal, withoutdeparting from the scope of the various described implementations. Thefirst acoustic signal and the second acoustic signal are both acousticsignals, but they are not the same acoustic signal.

The terminology used in the description of the various describedimplementations herein is for the purpose of describing particularimplementations only and is not intended to be limiting. As used in thedescription of the various described implementations and the appendedclaims, the singular forms “a”, “an” and “the” are intended to includethe plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicatesotherwise. It will also be understood that the term “and/or” as usedherein refers to and encompasses any and all possible combinations ofone or more of the associated listed items. It will be furtherunderstood that the terms “includes,” “including,” “comprises,” and/or“comprising,” when used in this specification, specify the presence ofstated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/orcomponents, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or moreother features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components,and/or groups thereof.

As used herein, the term “if” is, optionally, construed to mean “when”or “upon” or “in response to determining” or “in response to detecting”or “in accordance with a determination that,” depending on the context.Similarly, the phrase “if it is determined” or “if [a stated conditionor event] is detected” is, optionally, construed to mean “upondetermining” or “in response to determining” or “upon detecting [thestated condition or event]” or “in response to detecting [the statedcondition or event]” or “in accordance with a determination that [astated condition or event] is detected,” depending on the context.

It is to be appreciated that “smart home environments” may refer tosmart environments for homes such as a single-family house, but thescope of the present teachings is not so limited. The present teachingsare also applicable, without limitation, to duplexes, townhomes,multi-unit apartment buildings, hotels, retail stores, office buildings,industrial buildings, and more generally any living space or work space.

It is also to be appreciated that while the terms user, customer,installer, homeowner, occupant, guest, tenant, landlord, repair person,and the like may be used to refer to the person or persons acting in thecontext of some particularly situations described herein, thesereferences do not limit the scope of the present teachings with respectto the person or persons who are performing such actions. Thus, forexample, the terms user, customer, purchaser, installer, subscriber, andhomeowner may often refer to the same person in the case of asingle-family residential dwelling, because the head of the household isoften the person who makes the purchasing decision, buys the unit, andinstalls and configures the unit, and is also one of the users of theunit. However, in other scenarios, such as a landlord-tenantenvironment, the customer may be the landlord with respect to purchasingthe unit, the installer may be a local apartment supervisor, a firstuser may be the tenant, and a second user may again be the landlord withrespect to remote control functionality. Importantly, while the identityof the person performing the action may be germane to a particularadvantage provided by one or more of the implementations, such identityshould not be construed in the descriptions that follow as necessarilylimiting the scope of the present teachings to those particularindividuals having those particular identities.

FIG. 1 is an example smart home environment 100 in accordance with someimplementations. Smart home environment 100 includes a structure 150(e.g., a house, office building, garage, or mobile home) with variousintegrated devices. It will be appreciated that devices may also beintegrated into a smart home environment 100 that does not include anentire structure 150, such as an apartment, condominium, or officespace. Further, the smart home environment 100 may control and/or becoupled to devices outside of the actual structure 150. Indeed, severaldevices in the smart home environment 100 need not be physically withinthe structure 150. For example, a device controlling a pool heater 114or irrigation system 116 may be located outside of the structure 150.

The depicted structure 150 includes a plurality of rooms 152, separatedat least partly from each other via walls 154. The walls 154 may includeinterior walls or exterior walls. Each room may further include a floor156 and a ceiling 158. Devices may be mounted on, integrated with and/orsupported by a wall 154, floor 156 or ceiling 158.

In some implementations, the integrated devices of the smart homeenvironment 100 include intelligent, multi-sensing, network-connecteddevices that integrate seamlessly with each other in a smart homenetwork (e.g., 202 FIG. 2) and/or with a central server or acloud-computing system to provide a variety of useful smart homefunctions (collectively referred to as “smart devices”). The smart homeenvironment 100 may include one or more smart devices, such as one ormore intelligent, multi-sensing, network-connected: thermostats 102(hereinafter referred to as “smart thermostats 102”), hazard detectionunits 104 (hereinafter referred to as “smart hazard detectors 104”),entryway interface devices 106 and 120 (hereinafter referred to as“smart doorbells 106” and “smart door locks 120”), alarm systems 122(hereinafter referred to as “smart alarm systems 122”), wall switches108 (hereinafter referred to as “smart wall switches 108”), wall plugs110 (hereinafter referred to as “smart wall plugs 110”), appliances 112(hereinafter referred to as “smart appliances 112”), cameras 118, andhub devices 180. In some implementations, smart devices in the smarthome environment 100 are configured with one or more acoustic sensors(e.g., microphones) for detecting acoustic signals (e.g., acousticsignal 1006-1 generated by tags 1010-1 through 1010-4 in response tophysical motion, FIG. 11A; ambient noise; user voices; etc.), andoutputting signals (e.g., voltage, current) representing the detectedacoustic signals.

In some implementations, the one or more smart thermostats 102 detectambient climate characteristics (e.g., temperature and/or humidity) andcontrol a HVAC system 103 accordingly. For example, a respective smartthermostat 102 includes an ambient temperature sensor.

The one or more smart hazard detectors 104 may include thermal radiationsensors directed at respective heat sources (e.g., a stove, oven, otherappliances, a fireplace, etc.). For example, a smart hazard detector 104in a kitchen 153 includes a thermal radiation sensor directed at astove/oven 112. A thermal radiation sensor may determine the temperatureof the respective heat source (or a portion thereof) at which it isdirected and may provide corresponding blackbody radiation data asoutput.

The smart doorbell 106 and/or the smart door lock 120 may detect aperson's approach to or departure from a location (e.g., an outer door),control doorbell/door locking functionality (e.g., receive user inputsfrom a portable electronic device 166-1 to actuate bolt of the smartdoor lock 120), announce a person's approach or departure via audio orvisual means, and/or control settings on a security system (e.g., toactivate or deactivate the security system when occupants go and come).

The smart alarm system 122 may detect the presence of an individualwithin close proximity (e.g., using built-in IR sensors), sound an alarm(e.g., through a built-in speaker, or by sending commands to one or moreexternal speakers), and send notifications to entities or userswithin/outside of the smart home network 100. In some implementations,the smart alarm system 122 also includes one or more input devices orsensors (e.g., keypad, biometric scanner, NFC transceiver, microphone)for verifying the identity of a user, and one or more output devices(e.g., display, speaker). In some implementations, the smart alarmsystem 122 may also be set to an “armed” mode, such that detection of atrigger condition or event causes the alarm to be sounded unless adisarming action is performed.

In some implementations, the smart home environment 100 includes one ormore intelligent, multi-sensing, network-connected wall switches 108(hereinafter referred to as “smart wall switches 108”), along with oneor more intelligent, multi-sensing, network-connected wall pluginterfaces 110 (hereinafter referred to as “smart wall plugs 110”). Thesmart wall switches 108 may detect ambient lighting conditions, detectroom-occupancy states, and control a power and/or dim state of one ormore lights. In some instances, smart wall switches 108 may also controla power state or speed of a fan, such as a ceiling fan. Smart wall plugs110 control supply of power to one or more coupled devices. Smart wallplugs 110 control access to power based on sensor readings (e.g., poweris not supplied to a coupled device if no users are present, based on adetected occupancy of a room) or remote control inputs (e.g., inputsreceived from a client device 504).

In some implementations, the smart home environment 100 of FIG. 1includes a plurality of intelligent, multi-sensing, network-connectedappliances 112 (hereinafter referred to as “smart appliances 112”), suchas refrigerators, stoves, ovens, televisions, washers, dryers, lights,stereos, intercom systems, garage-door openers, floor fans, ceilingfans, wall air conditioners, pool heaters, irrigation systems, securitysystems, space heaters, window AC units, motorized duct vents, and soforth. In some implementations, when plugged in, an appliance mayannounce itself to the smart home network, such as by indicating whattype of appliance it is, and it may automatically integrate with thecontrols of the smart home. Such communication by the appliance to thesmart home may be facilitated by either a wired or wirelesscommunication protocol. The smart home may also include a variety ofnon-communicating legacy appliances 140, such as old conventionalwasher/dryers, refrigerators, and the like, which may be controlled bysmart wall plugs 110. The smart home environment 100 may further includea variety of partially communicating legacy appliances 142, such asinfrared (“IR”) controlled wall air conditioners or other IR-controlleddevices, which may be controlled by IR signals provided by the smarthazard detectors 104 or the smart wall switches 108.

In some implementations, the smart home environment 100 includes one ormore network-connected cameras 118 that are configured to provide videomonitoring and security in the smart home environment 100. The cameras118 may be used to determine occupancy of the structure 150 and/orparticular rooms 152 in the structure 150, and thus may act as occupancysensors. For example, video captured by the cameras 118 may be processedto identify the presence of an occupant in the structure 150 (e.g., in aparticular room 152). Specific individuals may be identified based, forexample, on their appearance (e.g., height, face) and/or movement (e.g.,their walk/gait). Cameras 118 may additionally include one or moresensors (e.g., IR sensors, motion detectors), input devices (e.g.,microphone for capturing audio), and output devices (e.g., speaker foroutputting audio).

The smart home environment 100 may additionally or alternatively includeone or more devices having an occupancy sensor (e.g., the smart doorbell106, smart door locks 120, touch screens, IR sensors, microphones,ambient light sensors, motion detectors, smart nightlights 170, etc.).In some implementations, the smart home environment 100 includesradio-frequency identification (RFID) readers (e.g., in each room 152 ora portion thereof) that determine occupancy based on RFID tags locatedon or embedded in occupants. For example, RFID readers may be integratedinto the smart hazard detectors 104.

The smart home environment 100 may also include communication withdevices outside of the physical home but within a proximate geographicalrange of the home. For example, the smart home environment 100 mayinclude a pool heater monitor 114 that communicates a current pooltemperature to other devices within the smart home environment 100and/or receives commands for controlling the pool temperature.Similarly, the smart home environment 100 may include an irrigationmonitor 116 that communicates information regarding irrigation systemswithin the smart home environment 100 and/or receives controlinformation for controlling such irrigation systems.

By virtue of network connectivity, one or more of the smart home devicesof FIG. 1 may further allow a user to interact with the device even ifthe user is not proximate to the device. For example, a user maycommunicate with a device using a computer (e.g., a desktop computer,laptop computer, or tablet) or other portable electronic device 166(e.g., a mobile phone, such as a smart phone). A webpage or applicationmay be configured to receive communications from the user and controlthe device based on the communications and/or to present informationabout the device's operation to the user. For example, the user may viewa current set point temperature for a device (e.g., a stove) and adjustit using a computer. The user may be in the structure during this remotecommunication or outside the structure.

As discussed above, users may control smart devices in the smart homeenvironment 100 using a network-connected computer or portableelectronic device 166. In some examples, some or all of the occupants(e.g., individuals who live in the home) may register their device 166with the smart home environment 100. Such registration may be made at acentral server to authenticate the occupant and/or the device as beingassociated with the home and to give permission to the occupant to usethe device to control the smart devices in the home. An occupant may usetheir registered device 166 to remotely control the smart devices of thehome, such as when the occupant is at work or on vacation. The occupantmay also use their registered device to control the smart devices whenthe occupant is actually located inside the home, such as when theoccupant is sitting on a couch inside the home. It should be appreciatedthat instead of or in addition to registering devices 166, the smarthome environment 100 may make inferences about which individuals live inthe home and are therefore occupants and which devices 166 areassociated with those individuals. As such, the smart home environmentmay “learn” who is an occupant and permit the devices 166 associatedwith those individuals to control the smart devices of the home.

In some implementations, in addition to containing processing andsensing capabilities, devices 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116,118, 120, and/or 122 (collectively referred to as “the smart devices”)are capable of data communications and information sharing with othersmart devices, a central server or cloud-computing system, and/or otherdevices that are network-connected. Data communications may be carriedout using any of a variety of custom or standard wireless protocols(e.g., IEEE 802.15.4, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, 6LoWPAN, Thread, Z-Wave, BluetoothSmart, ISA100.11a, WirelessHART, MiWi, etc.) and/or any of a variety ofcustom or standard wired protocols (e.g., Ethernet, HomePlug, etc.), orany other suitable communication protocol, including communicationprotocols not yet developed as of the filing date of this document.

In some implementations, data communications are conducted peer-to-peer(e.g., by establishing direct wireless communications channels betweendevices). In some implementations, the smart devices serve as wirelessor wired repeaters. In some implementations, a first one of the smartdevices communicates with a second one of the smart devices via awireless router. The smart devices may further communicate with eachother via a connection (e.g., network interface 160) to a network, suchas the Internet 162. Through the Internet 162, the smart devices maycommunicate with a smart home provider server system 164 (also called acentral server system and/or a cloud-computing system herein). The smarthome provider server system 164 may be associated with a manufacturer,support entity, or service provider associated with the smart device(s).In some implementations, a user is able to contact customer supportusing a smart device itself rather than needing to use othercommunication means, such as a telephone or Internet-connected computer.In some implementations, software updates are automatically sent fromthe smart home provider server system 164 to smart devices (e.g., whenavailable, when purchased, or at routine intervals).

In some implementations, the smart home environment 100 of FIG. 1includes a hub device 180 that is communicatively coupled to thenetwork(s) 162 directly or via the network interface 160. The hub device180 is further communicatively coupled to one or more of the aboveintelligent, multi-sensing, network-connected devices (e.g., smartdevices of the smart home environment 100). Each of these smart devicesoptionally communicates with the hub device 180 using one or more radiocommunication networks available at least in the smart home environment100 (e.g., ZigBee, Z-Wave, Insteon, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and other radiocommunication networks). In some implementations, the hub device 180 anddevices coupled with/to the hub device can be controlled and/orinteracted with via an application running on a smart phone, householdcontroller, laptop, tablet computer, game console or similar electronicdevice. In some implementations, a user of such controller applicationcan view status of the hub device or coupled smart devices, configurethe hub device to interoperate with smart devices newly introduced tothe home network, commission new smart devices, and adjust or viewsettings of connected smart devices, etc. In some implementations thehub device extends capabilities of low capability smart device to matchcapabilities of the highly capable smart devices of the same type,integrates functionality of multiple different device types—even acrossdifferent communication protocols, and is configured to streamlineadding of new devices and commissioning of the hub device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a representative networkarchitecture 200 that includes a smart home network 202 in accordancewith some implementations. In some implementations, one or more smartdevices 204 in the smart home environment 100 (e.g., the devices 102,104, 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, 180, and/or 122) combine tocreate a mesh network in the smart home network 202. In someimplementations, the one or more smart devices 204 in the smart homenetwork 202 operate as a smart home controller. In some implementations,a smart home controller has more computing power than other smartdevices. In some implementations, a smart home controller processesinputs (e.g., from the smart device(s) 204, the electronic device 166,and/or the smart home provider server system 164) and sends commands(e.g., to the smart device(s) 204 in the smart home network 202) tocontrol operation of the smart home environment 100. In someimplementations, some of the smart device(s) 204 in the mesh network are“spokesman” nodes (e.g., node 204-1) and others are “low-powered” nodes(e.g., node 204-9). Some of the smart device(s) 204 in the smart homeenvironment 100 are battery powered, while others have a regular andreliable power source, such as by connecting to wiring (e.g., to 120Vline voltage wires) behind the walls 154 of the smart home environment.The smart devices that have a regular and reliable power source arereferred to as “spokesman” nodes. These nodes are typically equippedwith the capability of using a wireless protocol to facilitatebidirectional communication with a variety of other devices in the smarthome environment 100, as well as with the central server orcloud-computing system 164. In some implementations, one or more“spokesman” nodes operate as a smart home controller. On the other hand,the devices that are battery powered are referred to as “low-power”nodes. These nodes tend to be smaller than spokesman nodes and typicallyonly communicate using wireless protocols that require very littlepower, such as Zigbee, 6LoWPAN, etc.

In some implementations, some low-power nodes are incapable ofbidirectional communication. These low-power nodes send messages, butthey are unable to “listen”. Thus, other devices in the smart homeenvironment 100, such as the spokesman nodes, cannot send information tothese low-power nodes.

As described, the spokesman nodes and some of the low-powered nodes arecapable of “listening.” Accordingly, users, other devices, and/or thecentral server or cloud-computing system 164 may communicate controlcommands to the low-powered nodes. For example, a user may use theportable electronic device 166 (e.g., a smartphone) to send commandsover the Internet to the central server or cloud-computing system 164,which then relays the commands to one or more spokesman nodes in thesmart home network 202. The spokesman nodes drop down to a low-powerprotocol to communicate the commands to the low-power nodes throughoutthe smart home network 202, as well as to other spokesman nodes that didnot receive the commands directly from the central server orcloud-computing system 164.

In some implementations, a smart nightlight 170 is a low-power node. Inaddition to housing a light source, the smart nightlight 170 houses anoccupancy sensor, such as an ultrasonic or passive IR sensor, and anambient light sensor, such as a photo resistor or a single-pixel sensorthat measures light in the room. In some implementations, the smartnightlight 170 is configured to activate the light source when itsambient light sensor detects that the room is dark and when itsoccupancy sensor detects that someone is in the room. In otherimplementations, the smart nightlight 170 is simply configured toactivate the light source when its ambient light sensor detects that theroom is dark. Further, in some implementations, the smart nightlight 170includes a low-power wireless communication chip (e.g., a ZigBee chip)that regularly sends out messages regarding the occupancy of the roomand the amount of light in the room, including instantaneous messagescoincident with the occupancy sensor detecting the presence of a personin the room. As mentioned above, these messages may be sent wirelessly,using the mesh network, from node to node (i.e., smart device to smartdevice) within the smart home network 202 as well as over the one ormore networks 162 to the central server or cloud-computing system 164.

Other examples of low-power nodes include battery-operated versions ofthe smart hazard detectors 104. These smart hazard detectors 104 areoften located in an area without access to constant and reliable powerand may include any number and type of sensors, such as smoke/fire/heatsensors, carbon monoxide/dioxide sensors, occupancy/motion sensors,ambient light sensors, temperature sensors, humidity sensors, and thelike. Furthermore, the smart hazard detectors 104 may send messages thatcorrespond to each of the respective sensors to the other devices and/orthe central server or cloud-computing system 164, such as by using themesh network as described above.

Examples of spokesman nodes include smart doorbells 106, smartthermostats 102, smart wall switches 108, and smart wall plugs 110.These devices 102, 106, 108, and 110 are often located near andconnected to a reliable power source, and therefore may include morepower-consuming components, such as one or more communication chipscapable of bidirectional communication in a variety of protocols.

In some implementations, the smart home environment 100 includes servicerobots 168 that are configured to carry out, in an autonomous manner,any of a variety of household tasks.

FIG. 3 illustrates a network-level view of an extensible devices andservices platform 300 with which the smart home environment 100 of FIG.1 is integrated, in accordance with some implementations. The extensibledevices and services platform 300 includes remote servers or cloudcomputing system 164. Each of the intelligent, network-connected devices(e.g., 102, 104, 106, 108, 110, 112, 114, 116, 118, etc.) from FIG. 1(identified simply as “devices” in FIGS. 2-4) may communicate with theremote servers or cloud computing system 164. For example, a connectionto the one or more networks 162 may be established either directly(e.g., using 3G/4G connectivity to a wireless carrier), or through anetwork interface 160 (e.g., a router, switch, gateway, hub, or anintelligent, dedicated whole-home control node), or through anycombination thereof.

In some implementations, the devices and services platform 300communicates with and collects data from the smart devices of the smarthome environment 100. In addition, in some implementations, the devicesand services platform 300 communicates with and collects data from aplurality of smart home environments across the world. For example, thesmart home provider server system 164 collects home data 302 from thedevices of one or more smart home environments, where the devices mayroutinely transmit home data or may transmit home data in specificinstances (e.g., when a device queries the home data 302). Examplecollected home data 302 includes, without limitation, power consumptiondata, occupancy data, HVAC settings and usage data, carbon monoxidelevels data, carbon dioxide levels data, volatile organic compoundslevels data, sleeping schedule data, cooking schedule data, inside andoutside temperature and humidity data, television viewership data,inside and outside noise level data, pressure data, video data, etc.

In some implementations, the smart home provider server system 164provides one or more services 304 to smart homes. Example services 304include, without limitation, software updates, customer support, sensordata collection/logging, remote access, remote or distributed control,and/or use suggestions (e.g., based on the collected home data 302) toimprove performance, reduce utility cost, increase safety, etc. In someimplementations, data associated with the services 304 is stored at thesmart home provider server system 164, and the smart home providerserver system 164 retrieves and transmits the data at appropriate times(e.g., at regular intervals, upon receiving a request from a user,etc.).

In some implementations, the extensible devices and the servicesplatform 300 includes a processing engine 306, which may be concentratedat a single server or distributed among several different computingentities. In some implementations, the processing engine 306 includesengines configured to receive data from the devices of smart homeenvironments (e.g., via the Internet and/or a network interface), toindex the data, to analyze the data and/or to generate statistics basedon the analysis or as part of the analysis. In some implementations, theanalyzed data is stored as derived home data 308.

Results of the analysis or statistics may thereafter be transmitted backto the device that provided home data used to derive the results, toother devices, to a server providing a webpage to a user of the device,or to other non-smart device entities. In some implementations, usestatistics, use statistics relative to use of other devices, usepatterns, and/or statistics summarizing sensor readings are generated bythe processing engine 306 and transmitted. The results or statistics maybe provided via the one or more networks 162. In this manner, theprocessing engine 306 may be configured and programmed to derive avariety of useful information from the home data 302. A single servermay include one or more processing engines.

The derived home data 308 may be used at different granularities for avariety of useful purposes, ranging from explicit programmed control ofthe devices on a per-home, per-neighborhood, or per-region basis (forexample, demand-response programs for electrical utilities), to thegeneration of inferential abstractions that may assist on a per-homebasis (for example, an inference may be drawn that the homeowner hasleft for vacation and so security detection equipment may be put onheightened sensitivity), to the generation of statistics and associatedinferential abstractions that may be used for government or charitablepurposes. For example, processing engine 306 may generate statisticsabout device usage across a population of devices and send thestatistics to device users, service providers or other entities (e.g.,entities that have requested the statistics and/or entities that haveprovided monetary compensation for the statistics).

In some implementations, to encourage innovation and research and toincrease products and services available to users, the devices andservices platform 300 exposes a range of application programminginterfaces (APIs) 310 to third parties, such as charities 314,governmental entities 316 (e.g., the Food and Drug Administration or theEnvironmental Protection Agency), academic institutions 318 (e.g.,university researchers), businesses 320 (e.g., providing devicewarranties or service to related equipment, targeting advertisementsbased on home data), utility companies 324, and other third parties. TheAPIs 310 are coupled to and permit third-party systems to communicatewith the smart home provider server system 164, including the services304, the processing engine 306, the home data 302, and the derived homedata 308. In some implementations, the APIs 310 allow applicationsexecuted by the third parties to initiate specific data processing tasksthat are executed by the smart home provider server system 164, as wellas to receive dynamic updates to the home data 302 and the derived homedata 308.

For example, third parties may develop programs and/or applications,such as web applications or mobile applications, that integrate with thesmart home provider server system 164 to provide services andinformation to users. Such programs and applications may be, forexample, designed to help users reduce energy consumption, topreemptively service faulty equipment, to prepare for high servicedemands, to track past service performance, etc., and/or to performother beneficial functions or tasks.

FIG. 4 illustrates an abstracted functional view 400 of the extensibledevices and services platform 300 of FIG. 3, with reference to aprocessing engine 306 as well as devices of the smart home environment,in accordance with some implementations. Even though devices situated insmart home environments will have a wide variety of different individualcapabilities and limitations, the devices may be thought of as sharingcommon characteristics in that each device is a data consumer 402 (DC),a data source 404 (DS), a services consumer 406 (SC), and a servicessource 408 (SS). Advantageously, in addition to providing controlinformation used by the devices to achieve their local and immediateobjectives, the extensible devices and services platform 300 may also beconfigured to use the large amount of data that is generated by thesedevices. In addition to enhancing or optimizing the actual operation ofthe devices themselves with respect to their immediate functions, theextensible devices and services platform 300 may be directed to“repurpose” that data in a variety of automated, extensible, flexible,and/or scalable ways to achieve a variety of useful objectives. Theseobjectives may be predefined or adaptively identified based on, e.g.,usage patterns, device efficiency, and/or user input (e.g., requestingspecific functionality).

FIG. 4 shows the processing engine 306 as including a number ofprocessing paradigms 410. In some implementations, the processing engine306 includes a managed services paradigm 410 a that monitors and managesprimary or secondary device functions. The device functions may includeensuring proper operation of a device given user inputs, estimating that(e.g., and responding to an instance in which) an intruder is or isattempting to be in a dwelling, detecting a failure of equipment coupledto the device (e.g., a light bulb having burned out), implementing orotherwise responding to energy demand response events, and/or alerting auser of a current or predicted future event or characteristic. In someimplementations, the processing engine 306 includes anadvertising/communication paradigm 410 b that estimates characteristics(e.g., demographic information), desires and/or products of interest ofa user based on device usage. Services, promotions, products or upgradesmay then be offered or automatically provided to the user. In someimplementations, the processing engine 306 includes a social paradigm410 c that uses information from a social network, provides informationto a social network (for example, based on device usage), and/orprocesses data associated with user and/or device interactions with thesocial network platform. For example, a user's status as reported totrusted contacts on the social network may be updated to indicate whenthe user is home based on light detection, security system inactivationor device usage detectors. As another example, a user may be able toshare device-usage statistics with other users. In yet another example,a user may share HVAC settings that result in low power bills and otherusers may download the HVAC settings to their smart thermostat 102 toreduce their power bills.

In some implementations, the processing engine 306 includes achallenges/rules/compliance/rewards paradigm 410 d that informs a userof challenges, competitions, rules, compliance regulations and/orrewards and/or that uses operation data to determine whether a challengehas been met, a rule or regulation has been complied with and/or areward has been earned. The challenges, rules, and/or regulations mayrelate to efforts to conserve energy, to live safely (e.g., reducingexposure to toxins or carcinogens), to conserve money and/or equipmentlife, to improve health, etc. For example, one challenge may involveparticipants turning down their thermostat by one degree for one week.Those participants that successfully complete the challenge arerewarded, such as with coupons, virtual currency, status, etc. Regardingcompliance, an example involves a rental-property owner making a rulethat no renters are permitted to access certain owner's rooms. Thedevices in the room having occupancy sensors may send updates to theowner when the room is accessed.

In some implementations, the processing engine 306 integrates orotherwise uses extrinsic information 412 from extrinsic sources toimprove the functioning of one or more processing paradigms. Theextrinsic information 412 may be used to interpret data received from adevice, to determine a characteristic of the environment near the device(e.g., outside a structure that the device is enclosed in), to determineservices or products available to the user, to identify a social networkor social-network information, to determine contact information ofentities (e.g., public-service entities such as an emergency-responseteam, the police or a hospital) near the device, to identify statisticalor environmental conditions, trends or other information associated witha home or neighborhood, and so forth.

FIG. 5 illustrates a representative operating environment 500 in which avideo server system 508 provides data processing for monitoring andfacilitating review of motion events in video streams captured by videocameras 118. As shown in FIG. 5, the video server system 508 receivesvideo data from video sources 522 (including cameras 118) located atvarious physical locations (e.g., inside homes, restaurants, stores,streets, parking lots, and/or the smart home environments 100 of FIG.1). Each video source 522 may be bound to one or more reviewer accounts,and the video server system 508 provides video monitoring data for thevideo source 522 to client devices 504 associated with the revieweraccounts. For example, the portable electronic device 166 is an exampleof the client device 504.

In some implementations, the smart home provider server system 164 or acomponent thereof serves as the video server system 508. In someimplementations, the video server system 508 is a dedicated videoprocessing server that provides video processing services to videosources and client devices 504 independent of other services provided bythe video server system 508.

In some implementations, each of the video sources 522 includes one ormore video cameras 118 that capture video and send the captured video tothe video server system 508 substantially in real-time. In someimplementations, each of the video sources 522 includes a controllerdevice (not shown) that serves as an intermediary between the one ormore cameras 118 and the video server system 508. The controller devicereceives the video data from the one or more cameras 118, optionallyperforms some preliminary processing on the video data, and sends thevideo data to the video server system 508 on behalf of the one or morecameras 118 substantially in real-time. In some implementations, eachcamera has its own on-board processing capabilities to perform somepreliminary processing on the captured video data before sending theprocessed video data (along with metadata obtained through thepreliminary processing) to the controller device and/or the video serversystem 508.

As shown in FIG. 5, in accordance with some implementations, each of theclient devices 504 includes a client-side module 502. The client-sidemodule 502 communicates with a server-side module 506 executed on thevideo server system 508 through the one or more networks 162. Theclient-side module 502 provides client-side functionality for the eventmonitoring and review processing and communications with the server-sidemodule 506. The server-side module 506 provides server-sidefunctionality for event monitoring and review processing for any numberof client-side modules 502 each residing on a respective client device504. The server-side module 506 also provides server-side functionalityfor video processing and camera control for any number of the videosources 522, including any number of control devices and the cameras118.

In some implementations, the server-side module 506 includes one or moreprocessors 512, a video storage database 514, an account database 516,an I/O interface to one or more client devices 518, and an I/O interfaceto one or more video sources 520. The I/O interface to one or moreclients 518 facilitates the client-facing input and output processingfor the server-side module 506. The account database 516 stores aplurality of profiles for reviewer accounts registered with the videoprocessing server, where a respective user profile includes accountcredentials for a respective reviewer account, and one or more videosources linked to the respective reviewer account. The I/O interface toone or more video sources 520 facilitates communications with one ormore video sources 522 (e.g., groups of one or more cameras 118 andassociated controller devices). The video storage database 514 storesraw video data received from the video sources 522, as well as varioustypes of metadata, such as motion events, event categories, eventcategory models, event filters, and event masks, for use in dataprocessing for event monitoring and review for each reviewer account.

Examples of a representative client device 504 include a handheldcomputer, a wearable computing device, a personal digital assistant(PDA), a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, acellular telephone, a smart phone, an enhanced general packet radioservice (EGPRS) mobile phone, a media player, a navigation device, agame console, a television, a remote control, a point-of-sale (POS)terminal, a vehicle-mounted computer, an ebook reader, or a combinationof any two or more of these data processing devices or other dataprocessing devices.

Examples of the one or more networks 162 include local area networks(LAN) and wide area networks (WAN) such as the Internet. The one or morenetworks 162 are implemented using any known network protocol, includingvarious wired or wireless protocols, such as Ethernet, Universal SerialBus (USB), FIREWIRE, Long Term Evolution (LTE), Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), codedivision multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA),Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, or anyother suitable communication protocol.

In some implementations, the video server system 508 is implemented onone or more standalone data processing apparatuses or a distributednetwork of computers. In some implementations, the video server system508 also employs various virtual devices and/or services of third partyservice providers (e.g., third-party cloud service providers) to providethe underlying computing resources and/or infrastructure resources ofthe video server system 508. In some implementations, the video serversystem 508 includes, but is not limited to, a handheld computer, atablet computer, a laptop computer, a desktop computer, or a combinationof any two or more of these data processing devices or other dataprocessing devices.

The server-client environment 500 shown in FIG. 5 includes both aclient-side portion (e.g., the client-side module 502) and a server-sideportion (e.g., the server-side module 506). The division offunctionality between the client and server portions of operatingenvironment 500 can vary in different implementations. Similarly, thedivision of functionality between a video source 522 and the videoserver system 508 can vary in different implementations. For example, insome implementations, the client-side module 502 is a thin-client thatprovides only user-facing input and output processing functions, anddelegates all other data processing functionality to a backend server(e.g., the video server system 508). Similarly, in some implementations,a respective one of the video sources 522 is a simple video capturingdevice that continuously captures and streams video data to the videoserver system 508 with limited or no local preliminary processing on thevideo data. Although many aspects of the present technology aredescribed from the perspective of the video server system 508, thecorresponding actions performed by a client device 504 and/or the videosources 522 would be apparent to one of skill in the art. Similarly,some aspects of the present technology may be described from theperspective of a client device or a video source, and the correspondingactions performed by the video server would be apparent to one of skillin the art. Furthermore, some aspects of the present technology may beperformed by the video server system 508, a client device 504, and avideo source 522 cooperatively.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a representative smart device 204in accordance with some implementations. In some implementations, thesmart device 204 (e.g., any devices of a smart home environment 100 asdescribed in FIGS. 1 and 2, such as a thermostat 102, camera device 118,hazard detector 104, etc.) includes one or more processing units (e.g.,CPUs, ASICs, FPGAs, microprocessors, and the like) 602, one or morecommunication interfaces 604, memory 606, radios 640, and one or morecommunication buses 608 for interconnecting these components (sometimescalled a chipset). In some implementations, user interface 610 includesone or more output devices 612 that enable presentation of mediacontent, including one or more speakers and/or one or more visualdisplays. In some implementations, user interface 610 also includes oneor more input devices 614, including user interface components thatfacilitate user input such as a keyboard, a mouse, a voice-command inputunit or microphone, a touch screen display, a touch-sensitive input pad,a gesture capturing camera, or other input buttons or controls.Furthermore, some smart devices 204 use a microphone and voicerecognition or a camera and gesture recognition to supplement or replacethe keyboard. In some implementations, the smart device 204 includes oneor more image/video capture devices 618 (e.g., cameras, video cameras,scanners, photo sensor units). Optionally, the client device includes alocation detection device 616, such as a GPS (global positioningsatellite) or other geo-location receiver, for determining the locationof the smart device 204.

The built-in sensors 690 include, for example, one or more thermalradiation sensors, acoustic sensors (e.g., microphones), ambienttemperature sensors, humidity sensors, IR sensors, occupancy sensors(e.g., using RFID sensors), ambient light sensors, motion detectors,accelerometers, and/or gyroscopes.

The radios 640 enable one or more radio communication networks in thesmart home environments, and allow a smart device 204 to communicatedirectly with other devices. In some implementations, the radios 640 arecapable of data communications using any of a variety of custom orstandard wireless protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.15.4, Wi-Fi, ZigBee,6LoWPAN, Thread, Z-Wave, Bluetooth Smart, ISA100.11a, WirelessHART,MiWi, etc.) custom or standard wired protocols (e.g., Ethernet,HomePlug, etc.), and/or any other suitable communication protocol,including communication protocols not yet developed as of the filingdate of this document.

Communication interfaces 604 include, for example, hardware capable ofdata communications using any of a variety of custom or standardwireless protocols (e.g., IEEE 802.15.4, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, 6LoWPAN, Thread,Z-Wave, Bluetooth Smart, ISA100.11a, WirelessHART, MiWi, etc.) and/orany of a variety of custom or standard wired protocols (e.g., Ethernet,HomePlug, etc.), or any other suitable communication protocol, includingcommunication protocols not yet developed as of the filing date of thisdocument.

Memory 606 includes high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM,DDR RAM, or other random access solid state memory devices; and,optionally, includes non-volatile memory, such as one or more magneticdisk storage devices, one or more optical disk storage devices, one ormore flash memory devices, or one or more other non-volatile solid statestorage devices. Memory 606, or alternatively the non-volatile memorywithin memory 606, includes a non-transitory computer readable storagemedium. In some implementations, memory 606, or the non-transitorycomputer readable storage medium of memory 606, stores the followingprograms, modules, and data structures, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   Operating logic 620 including procedures for handling various        basic system services and for performing hardware dependent        tasks;    -   Device communication module 622 for connecting to and        communicating with other network devices (e.g., network        interface 160, such as a router that provides Internet        connectivity, networked storage devices, network routing        devices, server system 508, etc.) connected to one or more        networks 162 via one or more communication interfaces 604 (wired        or wireless);    -   Radio Communication Module 624 for connecting the smart device        204 to and communicating with other devices (e.g., controller        devices, smart devices 204 in smart home environment 100, client        devices 504) via one or more radio communication devices (e.g.,        radios 640);    -   Input processing module 626 for detecting one or more user        inputs or interactions from the one or more input devices 614        and interpreting the detected inputs or interactions;    -   User interface module 628 for providing and displaying a user        interface in which settings, captured data, and/or other data        for one or more devices (e.g., the smart device 204, and/or        other devices in smart home environment 100) can be configured        and/or viewed;    -   One or more applications 630 for execution by the smart device        630 (e.g., games, social network applications, smart home        applications, and/or other web or non-web based applications)        for controlling devices (e.g., executing commands, sending        commands, and/or configuring settings of the smart device 204        and/or other client/electronic devices), and for reviewing data        captured by devices (e.g., device status and settings, captured        data, or other information regarding the smart device 204 and/or        other client/electronic devices);    -   Device-side module 632, which provides device-side        functionalities for device control, data processing, data        review, and performing one or more device-specific        functionalities (examples of which are described above with        respect to FIG. 1), including but not limited to:        -   Command receiving module 634 for receiving, forwarding,            and/or executing instructions and control commands (e.g.,            from a client device 504, from a smart home provider server            system 164, from user inputs detected on the user interface            610, etc.) for operating the smart device 204; and        -   Data processing module 636 for processing data (e.g.,            acoustic signals) captured or received by one or more inputs            (e.g., input devices 614, image/video capture devices 618,            location detection device 616), sensors (e.g., built-in            sensors 690), interfaces (e.g., communication interfaces            604, radios 640), other devices (e.g., other devices to            which the smart device 204 is communicably coupled), and/or            other components of the smart device 204, and for preparing            and sending processed data to a device for review (e.g.,            client devices 504 for review by a user), including:            -   Object identification module 638 for identifying                monitored objects that correspond to detected acoustic                signals (e.g., window 1002-1 corresponding to acoustic                signal 1006-1, FIG. 10);            -   State determination module 640 for determining a state                (of an identified monitored object) that corresponds to                a detected acoustic signal (e.g., open state of window                1002-1 corresponding to acoustic signal 1006-1, FIG.                10);            -   Device identification module 642 for identifying devices                to be provisioned that correspond to detected acoustic                signals (e.g., a camera device contained within product                packaging 1008, corresponding to acoustic signal 1006-4,                FIG. 10); and            -   Instructions identification module 644 for identifying                sets of executable instructions that correspond to                detected acoustic signals (e.g., instructions to                register device with home system, table 1200, FIG. 12B);                and    -   Device data 646 storing data associated with devices (e.g., the        smart device 204), including, but is not limited to:        -   Account data 648 storing information related to user            accounts loaded on the smart device 204, wherein such            information includes cached login credentials, smart device            identifiers (e.g., MAC addresses and UUIDs), user interface            settings, display preferences, authentication tokens and            tags, password keys, etc.;        -   Local data storage database 650 for selectively storing raw            or processed data associated with the smart device 204            (e.g., video surveillance footage captured by a camera 118);            and        -   Acoustic signature database 652 for storing acoustic            signatures and associated data (e.g., monitored objects and            states, table 1100; non-provisioned devices and sets of            executable instructions, table 1200; etc.).

Each of the above identified elements may be stored in one or more ofthe previously mentioned memory devices, and corresponds to a set ofinstructions for performing a function described above. The aboveidentified modules or programs (i.e., sets of instructions) need not beimplemented as separate software programs, procedures, or modules, andthus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwisere-arranged in various implementations. In some implementations, memory606, optionally, stores a subset of the modules and data structuresidentified above. Furthermore, memory 606, optionally, stores additionalmodules and data structures not described above.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating a representative client device504 associated with a user account in accordance with someimplementations. The client device 504, typically, includes one or moreprocessing units (CPUs) 702, one or more network interfaces 704, memory706, and one or more communication buses 708 for interconnecting thesecomponents (sometimes called a chipset). Optionally, the client devicealso includes a user interface 710 and one or more built-in sensors 790(e.g., accelerometer, gyroscope, microphone, etc.). User interface 710includes one or more output devices 712 that enable presentation ofmedia content, including one or more speakers and/or one or more visualdisplays. User interface 710 also includes one or more input devices714, including user interface components that facilitate user input suchas a keyboard, a mouse, a voice-command input unit or microphone, atouch screen display, a touch-sensitive input pad, a gesture capturingcamera, or other input buttons or controls. Furthermore, some the clientdevices use a microphone and voice recognition or a camera and gesturerecognition to supplement or replace the keyboard. In someimplementations, the client device includes one or more cameras,scanners, or photo sensor units for capturing images (not shown).Optionally, the client device includes a location detection device 716,such as a GPS (global positioning satellite) or other geo-locationreceiver, for determining the location of the client device.

Memory 706 includes high-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM,DDR RAM, or other random access solid state memory devices; and,optionally, includes non-volatile memory, such as one or more magneticdisk storage devices, one or more optical disk storage devices, one ormore flash memory devices, or one or more other non-volatile solid statestorage devices. Memory 706, optionally, includes one or more storagedevices remotely located from one or more processing units 702. Memory706, or alternatively the non-volatile memory within memory 706,includes a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. In someimplementations, memory 706, or the non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of memory 706, stores the following programs, modules,and data structures, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   Operating system 718 including procedures for handling various        basic system services and for performing hardware dependent        tasks;    -   Network communication module 720 for connecting the client        device 504 to and communicating with other systems and devices        (e.g., client devices, electronic devices, smart devices 204,        and systems connected to one or more networks 162, FIGS. 1-5)        via one or more network interfaces 704 (wired or wireless);    -   Input processing module 722 for detecting one or more user        inputs or interactions from one of the one or more input devices        714 and interpreting the detected input or interaction;    -   One or more applications 724 for execution by the client device        (e.g., games, social network applications, smart home        applications, and/or other web or non-web based applications)        for controlling devices (e.g., sending commands, configuring        settings, etc. to hub devices and/or other client or electronic        devices) and for reviewing data captured by the devices (e.g.,        device status and settings, captured data, or other information        regarding the hub device or other connected devices);    -   User interface module 726 for providing and displaying a user        interface in which settings, captured data, and/or other data        for one or more devices (e.g., smart devices 204 in smart home        environment 100) can be configured and/or viewed;    -   Client-side module 728, which provides client-side        functionalities for device control, data processing and data        review, including but not limited to:        -   Device control module 730 for generating control commands            for controlling or modifying operating modes of electronic            devices (e.g., smart devices 204) in accordance with user            inputs;        -   Data review module 732 for providing user interfaces for            reviewing data processed by the hub server system 508; and        -   Data processing module 734 for processing data (e.g.,            acoustic signals) captured or received by one or more inputs            (e.g., input devices 714, image/video capture devices,            location detection device 716), sensors (e.g., built-in            sensors 790), interfaces (e.g., network interfaces 704),            other devices (e.g., other smart devices 204 to which the            client device 504 is communicably coupled), and/or other            components of the client device 504, including:            -   Object identification module 736 for identifying                monitored objects that correspond to detected acoustic                signals (e.g., window 1002-1 corresponding to acoustic                signal 1006-1, FIG. 10);            -   State determination module 738 for determining a state                (of an identified monitored object) that corresponds to                a detected acoustic signal (e.g., open state of window                1002-1 corresponding to acoustic signal 1006-1, FIG.                10);            -   Device identification module 740 for identifying devices                to be provisioned that correspond to detected acoustic                signals (e.g., a camera device contained within product                packaging 1008, corresponding to acoustic signal 1006-4,                FIG. 10); and            -   Instructions identification module 742 for identifying                sets of executable instructions that correspond to                detected acoustic signals (e.g., instructions to                register device with home system, table 1200, FIG. 12B);                and    -   Client data 744 storing data associated with the user account        and electronic devices, including, but is not limited to:        -   Account data 746 storing information related to both user            accounts loaded on the client device and electronic devices            (e.g., of the video sources 522) associated with the user            accounts, wherein such information includes cached login            credentials, hub device identifiers (e.g., MAC addresses and            UUIDs), electronic device identifiers (e.g., MAC addresses            and UUIDs), user interface settings, display preferences,            authentication tokens and tags, password keys, etc.;        -   Local data storage database 748 for selectively storing raw            or processed data associated with electronic devices (e.g.,            of the video sources 522, such as a camera 118); and        -   Acoustic signature database 750 for storing acoustic            signatures and associated data (e.g., monitored objects and            states, table 1100; non-provisioned devices and sets of            executable instructions, table 1200; etc.).

Each of the above identified elements may be stored in one or more ofthe previously mentioned memory devices, and corresponds to a set ofinstructions for performing a function described above. The aboveidentified modules or programs (i.e., sets of instructions) need not beimplemented as separate software programs, procedures, modules or datastructures, and thus various subsets of these modules may be combined orotherwise re-arranged in various implementations. In someimplementations, memory 706, optionally, stores a subset of the modulesand data structures identified above. Furthermore, memory 706,optionally, stores additional modules and data structures not describedabove.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram illustrating the smart home provider serversystem 164 in accordance with some implementations. The smart homeprovider server system 164, typically, includes one or more processingunits (CPUs) 802, one or more network interfaces 804 (e.g., including anI/O interface to one or more client devices and an I/O interface to oneor more electronic devices), memory 806, and one or more communicationbuses 808 for interconnecting these components (sometimes called achipset). Memory 806 includes high-speed random access memory, such asDRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or other random access solid state memory devices;and, optionally, includes non-volatile memory, such as one or moremagnetic disk storage devices, one or more optical disk storage devices,one or more flash memory devices, or one or more other non-volatilesolid state storage devices. Memory 806, optionally, includes one ormore storage devices remotely located from one or more processing units802. Memory 806, or alternatively the non-volatile memory within memory806, includes a non-transitory computer readable storage medium. In someimplementations, memory 806, or the non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of memory 806, stores the following programs, modules,and data structures, or a subset or superset thereof:

-   -   Operating system 810 including procedures for handling various        basic system services and for performing hardware dependent        tasks;    -   Network communication module 812 for connecting the smart home        provider server system 164 to and communicating with other        systems and devices (e.g., client devices, electronic devices,        smart devices 204, and systems connected to one or more networks        162, FIGS. 1-5) via one or more network interfaces 804 (wired or        wireless);    -   Server-side module 814, which provides server-side        functionalities for device control, data processing and data        review, including but not limited to:        -   Data receiving module 816 for receiving data from electronic            devices (e.g., acoustic signals received from smart devices            204, video data from a camera 118, etc.), and preparing the            received data for further processing and storage in the data            storage database 8160;        -   Device control module 818 for generating and sending            server-initiated control commands to modify operation modes            of electronic devices (e.g., devices of a smart home            environment 100), and/or receiving (e.g., from client            devices 504) and forwarding user-initiated control commands            to modify operation modes of the electronic devices; and        -   Data processing module 820 for processing data (e.g.,            acoustic signals) captured or received from electronic            devices (e.g., acoustic signals detected by smart devices            204 in a smart home environment 100, FIG. 10), and/or            preparing and sending processed data to a device for review            (e.g., client devices 504 for review by a user), including:            -   Object identification module 822 for identifying                monitored objects that correspond to detected acoustic                signals (e.g., window 1002-1 corresponding to acoustic                signal 1006-1, FIG. 10);            -   State determination module 824 for determining a state                (of an identified monitored object) that corresponds to                a detected acoustic signal (e.g., open state of window                1002-1 corresponding to acoustic signal 1006-1, FIG.                10);            -   Device identification module 826 for identifying devices                to be provisioned that correspond to detected acoustic                signals (e.g., a camera device contained within product                packaging 1008, corresponding to acoustic signal 1006-4,                FIG. 10); and            -   Instructions identification module 828 for identifying                sets of executable instructions that correspond to                detected acoustic signals (e.g., instructions to                register device with home system, table 1200, FIG. 12B);                and    -   Server database 830, including but not limited to:        -   Data storage database 832 for storing data associated with            each electronic device (e.g., each camera) of each user            account, as well as data processing models, processed data            results, and other relevant metadata (e.g., names of data            results, location of electronic device, creation time,            duration, settings of the electronic device, etc.)            associated with the data, wherein (optionally) all or a            portion of the data and/or processing associated with the            electronic devices are stored securely;        -   Account database 834 for storing account information for            user accounts, including user account information,            information and settings for linked hub devices and            electronic devices (e.g., hub device identifications), hub            device specific secrets, relevant user and hardware            characteristics (e.g., service tier, device model, storage            capacity, processing capabilities, etc.), user interface            settings, data review preferences, etc., where the            information for associated electronic devices includes, but            is not limited to, one or more device identifiers (e.g., MAC            address and UUID), device specific secrets, and displayed            titles; and        -   Acoustic signature database 836 for storing acoustic            signatures and associated data (e.g., monitored objects and            states, table 1100; non-provisioned devices and sets of            executable instructions, table 1200; etc.).

Each of the above identified elements may be stored in one or more ofthe previously mentioned memory devices, and corresponds to a set ofinstructions for performing a function described above. The aboveidentified modules or programs (i.e., sets of instructions) need not beimplemented as separate software programs, procedures, or modules, andthus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwisere-arranged in various implementations. In some implementations, memory806, optionally, stores a subset of the modules and data structuresidentified above. Furthermore, memory 806, optionally, stores additionalmodules and data structures not described above.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating a video server system 508 inaccordance with some implementations. The video server system 508typically includes one or more processing units (CPUs) 512, one or morenetwork interfaces 904 (e.g., including the I/O interface to one or moreclients 504 and the I/O interface to one or more video sources 522),memory 906, and one or more communication buses 908 for interconnectingthese components (sometimes called a chipset). The memory 906 includeshigh-speed random access memory, such as DRAM, SRAM, DDR RAM, or otherrandom access solid state memory devices. In some implementations, thememory 906 includes non-volatile memory, such as one or more magneticdisk storage devices, one or more optical disk storage devices, one ormore flash memory devices, or one or more other non-volatile solid statestorage devices. In some implementations, the memory 906 includes one ormore storage devices remotely located from the one or more processingunits 512. The memory 906, or alternatively the non-volatile memorywithin the memory 906, comprises a non-transitory computer readablestorage medium. In some implementations, the memory 906, or thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of the memory 906,stores the following programs, modules, and data structures, or a subsetor superset thereof:

-   -   an operating system 910, including procedures for handling        various basic system services and for performing hardware        dependent tasks;    -   a network communication module 912 for connecting the video        server system 508 to other computing devices (e.g., the client        devices 504 and the video sources 522 including camera(s) 118)        connected to the one or more networks 162 via the one or more        network interfaces 904 (wired or wireless);    -   a server-side module 506, which provides server-side data        processing and functionality for the event monitoring and        review, including but not limited to:        -   an account administration module 914 for creating reviewer            accounts, performing camera registration processing to            establish associations between video sources to their            respective reviewer accounts, and providing account            login-services to the client devices 504;        -   a video data receiving module 916 for receiving raw video            data from the video sources 522, and preparing the received            video data for event processing and long-term storage in the            video storage database 514;        -   a camera control module 918 for generating and sending            server-initiated control commands to modify the operation            modes of the video sources, and/or receiving and forwarding            user-initiated control commands to modify the operation            modes of the video sources 522;        -   an event detection module 920 for detecting motion event            candidates in video streams from each of the video sources            522, including motion track identification, false positive            suppression, and event mask generation and caching;        -   an event categorization module 922 for categorizing motion            events detected in received video streams;        -   a zone creation module 924 for generating zones of interest            in accordance with user input;        -   a person identification module 926 for identifying            characteristics associated with the presence of humans in            the received video streams;        -   a filter application module 928 for selecting event filters            (e.g., event categories, zones of interest, a human filter,            etc.) and applying the selected event filters to past and            new motion events detected in the video streams;        -   a zone monitoring module 930 for monitoring motion within            selected zones of interest and generating notifications for            new motion events detected within the selected zones of            interest, where the zone monitoring takes into account            changes in the surrounding context of the zones and is not            confined within the selected zones of interest;        -   a real-time motion event presentation module 932 for            dynamically changing characteristics of event indicators            displayed in user interfaces as new event filters, such as            new event categories or new zones of interest, and for            providing real-time notifications as new motion events are            detected in the video streams; and        -   an event post-processing module 934 for providing summary            time-lapse for past motion events detected in video streams,            and providing event and category editing functions to users            for revising past event categorization results; and    -   server data 936, which includes data for use in data processing        of motion event monitoring and review. In some implementations,        this includes one or more of:        -   a video storage database 514 storing raw video data            associated with each of the video sources 522 (each            including one or more cameras 118) of each reviewer account,            as well as event categorization models (e.g., event            clusters, categorization criteria, etc.), event            categorization results (e.g., recognized event categories,            and assignment of past motion events to the recognized event            categories, representative events for each recognized event            category, etc.), event masks for past motion events, video            segments for each past motion event, preview video (e.g.,            sprites) of past motion events, and other relevant metadata            (e.g., names of event categories, locations of the cameras            118, creation time, duration, DTPZ settings of the cameras            118, etc.) associated with the motion events; and        -   an account database 516 for storing account information for            reviewer accounts, including login-credentials, associated            video sources, relevant user and hardware characteristics            (e.g., service tier, camera model, storage capacity,            processing capabilities, etc.), user interface settings,            monitoring preferences, etc.

Each of the above identified elements may be stored in one or more ofthe previously mentioned memory devices, and corresponds to a set ofinstructions for performing a function described above. The aboveidentified modules or programs (i.e., sets of instructions) need not beimplemented as separate software programs, procedures, or modules, andthus various subsets of these modules may be combined or otherwisere-arranged in various implementations. In some implementations, thememory 906 stores a subset of the modules and data structures identifiedabove. In some implementations, the memory 906 stores additional modulesand data structures not described above.

In some implementations, the functions of any of the devices and systemsdescribed herein (e.g., smart device 204, client device 504, smart homeprovider server system 164, video server system 508, etc.) areinterchangeable with one another and may be performed by any otherdevices or systems, where the corresponding sub-modules of thesefunctions may additionally and/or alternatively be located within andexecuted by any of the devices and systems. The devices and systemsshown in and described with respect to FIGS. 6-9 are merelyillustrative, and different configurations of the modules forimplementing the functions described herein are possible in variousimplementations.

FIG. 10 is an example smart home environment 100 in accordance with someimplementations. The smart home environment 100 in FIG. 10 includesmultiple smart devices (e.g., smart devices 204, FIG. 2) positioned invarious locations of the premises, each of the smart devices havingvarious sensor, processing, and functional capabilities. The smartdevices include a thermostat 102, a client device 504 (e.g., a smartphone), a network interface 160 (e.g., a router), a wall plug 110, anappliance 112 (e.g., a TV), an alarm system 122, a camera 118, a hazarddetector 104, and a door lock 120. As described with respect to FIG. 1,some or all of the smart devices are communicably connected to (orcapable of transmitting data between) one another, and through thenetwork 162 (e.g., Internet), may communicate with a smart home providerserver system 164 so as to make a variety of services available to usersassociated with the smart home environment 100.

The premises shown in FIG. 10 includes multiple rooms 1000-1 and 1000-2having a number of entryways, such as windows 1002-1 and 1002-2, anddoorway 1004. Attached to (or otherwise integrated with) one or more ofthese entryways is a passive (i.e., electrically non-powered) tag thatgenerates a predefined acoustic signal (i.e., a sound) in response tophysical motion associated with entryways. For example, a tag (e.g.,tags 1016-1 and 1016-2, which correspond to and are described in greaterdetail as tags 1010 in FIGS. 11A and 12A) may be a material affixed tothe side of the window 1002-1, positioned such that contact with the tagand a window frame (or a complimentary tag affixed to the window frame)generates a particular acoustic signal 1006-1 as the window is opened orclosed. An example of such a tag is shown in FIG. 11A. Similarly, tagsaffixed to the door 1004 and the window 1002-2 generate respectiveacoustic signals 1006-2 and 1006-3. Acoustic signals generated inresponse to physical motion in this manner are characterized by acousticsignatures having measurable properties or characteristics, thesignatures corresponding to time or frequency domain representations ofthe acoustic signals. Characteristics of acoustic signatures may includea length (in time) of an acoustic signature/signal, amplitude values(e.g., measured as sound pressure, sound intensity, sound pressurelevel, etc.), and spectral coefficients for one or more respectivefrequencies (e.g., frequency domain representation of the acousticsignal).

By manipulating tags to generate acoustic signals having specifiedsignatures, various objects of a smart home environment 100 (e.g.,entryways, appliances, etc.) and their states (e.g., opened, closed,etc.) can be easily monitored and identified. In particular, asdescribed in greater detail below, any one (or a combination) of thesmart devices positioned throughout the smart home environment 100 canbe used to detect and analyze acoustic signals generated by tags todetermine a current state of or other information regarding a monitoredobject. This may be done by comparing the acoustic signature of thedetected acoustic signal against a database of stored acousticsignatures, where the stored acoustic signatures are mapped torespective objects and states of those objects. Examples of furtherimplementations could be tags affixed to mechanical systems in such away that the tags would “trigger” an acoustic alert (e.g., an acousticsignal with a defined acoustic signature) in the event of a specificfailure (e.g., mechanical breakage). Another example of a furtherimplementation would be tags that could be affixed to objects of valuein the home such that displacement (e.g., which causes generation ofacoustic signal having an acoustic signature) would trigger an alert tothe system.

In another aspect, a user may seek to add a new device (e.g., anon-provisioned device) to the smart home environment 100, such asinstalling a new security camera. Affixed to the packaging 1008 of a newdevice is a tag that generates a predefined acoustic signal in responseto physical motion of the tag. This may include tearing off an adhesivestrip (or other packaging component) from the packaging 1008 of a newdevice while unboxing, where the adhesive strip generates an acousticsignal 1006-4 in response. An example of such a tag is shown in FIG.12A.

As described above, acoustic signals generated in response to physicalmotion in this manner are characterized by acoustic signatures havingmeasurable properties or characteristics. Through the use of such tags,various operations related to a provisioning or installation process ofa new device may be triggered in response to detecting a predefinedacoustic signal. For example, smart devices positioned throughout thesmart home environment 100 can be used to detect and analyze acousticsignals generated by tearing off tags affixed to the packaging of a newdevice, and further cause execution of instructions for provisioning thenew device, such as pairing the new device with an existing network ofsmart devices or executing installation software. Specifically, theacoustic signature of the detected acoustic signal is compared against adatabase of stored acoustic signatures, where the stored acousticsignatures are mapped to respective devices and sets of executableinstructions for provisioning the devices. The use of tags thereforeincreases the ease with which new devices can be provisioned andinstalled.

FIG. 11A illustrates a tag, a monitored object, and an acousticsignature of a generated acoustic signal, in accordance with someimplementations.

Specifically, a window 1002-1 from the smart home environment 100 ofFIG. 10 is illustrated. Tags 1010 (e.g., tags 1010-1 through 1010-4, orcollectively referred to as a single tag associated with the window1002-1) are affixed to the window 1002-1 and a window frame. In responseto a downward motion of the window 1002-1 as it is being closed, anacoustic signal 1006-1 having an acoustic signature 1012 is generated asthe tag 1010-1 comes into contact with the tags 1010-2 through 1010-4.Particularly, the portions 1012-A, 1012-B, and 1012-C of the acousticsignature 1012 correspond to the acoustic signals generated as the tag1010-1 comes into contact with the tags 1010-2, 1010-3, and 1010-4,respectively.

Objects that may be monitored in a given environment include openingsand entryways (e.g., windows, doors, gates, fences, vents, etc.) throughwhich one may gain access to a premises. Other objects that can bemonitored include appliances (e.g., opening/closing of a dishwasher,laundry machine, stove, oven, HVAC, etc.) or other devices havingmultiple states (e.g., powering on/off of a television, sound system,window blinds, etc.). Objects may also include items of value, theposition (e.g., secured position) or location of which a user maymonitor by use tags for generating acoustic signals.

Monitored objects may assume a plurality of possible states (e.g., open,closed, partially open, etc.). A plurality of states may be related inthat they correspond to a common state, but each of the plurality ofstates corresponds to a different degree of the common state (e.g.,multiple opened states, where each state corresponds to a differentpercentage of a completely open state, such as 10% open, 20% open,etc.).

Tags 1010 include any passive (i.e., non-powered) objects, materials, ormechanisms that are manufactured and designed to generate acousticsignals having specific acoustic signatures. Tags 1010 may generateacoustic signals have specific acoustic properties in response to aparticular type of physical contact or motion (e.g., rubbing, tearing,compression, expansion), or a particular magnitude thereof (e.g., aspeed or force with which a window is closed). Tags 1010 may bemanufactured using materials having specific acoustic properties. Forexample, tags 1010 may be an adhesive material, where the degree ofadhesiveness has a corresponding amount of friction, and thus has acorresponding acoustic signal having a specific acoustic signature thatresults from physical contact. In this example, the degree ofadhesiveness can therefore be adjusted to design acoustic signals havingparticular acoustic signatures. In FIG. 11A, the tags 1010 areconstructed using a material having protruding fibers disposed acrossthe surface of the tags, such that contact resulting from a tag touchingand moving across the surface of another tag generates a particularsound (e.g., Velcro).

Physical properties of tags 1010, such as shape, size, thickness,length, position (e.g., with reference to objects or surfaces with whichthey come into contact), or other modifiable characteristics, may alsobe adjusted in such a way that a particular acoustic signal and acousticsignature are achieved. One or multiple tags 1010 may also be combinedand placed in a particular arrangement in order to produce a particularacoustic signal. In the example shown, three tags 1010-2 through 1010-4are positioned in a sequence such that the opening and closing of thewindow 1002-1 produces three sequential acoustic signals (or onecollective acoustic signal) corresponding to portions 1012-A, 1012-B,and 1012-C of the acoustic signature 1012.

Other examples of tags 1010 include miniature instruments that producepredefined acoustic signals (e.g., bells, chimes, horns, whistles, woodblocks, forks, strings, etc.). In some implementations, tags 1010 aredevices that generate a clicking noise in response to physical contact(e.g., a ratchet or clip having one or more angled prongs).

An acoustic signature is a time or frequency-domain representation of acorresponding acoustic signal. In particular, in the time-domain, anacoustic signature is a function a(t) that specifies an amplitude (e.g.,sound pressure) of an acoustic signal measured at various times t overthe length of the acoustic signal. The amplitude may be in units ofpressure (pascal Pa), or output units (e.g., voltage V, current I, etc.)of an acoustic sensor that detects the acoustic signal (e.g., amicrophone) and produces/outputs a corresponding signal. The amplitudemay be expressed as a peak amplitude, a peak-to-peak amplitude, anaverage, or root mean square amplitude. Alternatively, the function a(t)may be expressed as a sound intensity I, defined by I=p*v (units ofW·m⁻², where p is the function a(t) measured in units of sound pressureand v is a particle velocity), or a sound pressure level (SPL) L_(p),defined by L_(p)=20*log₁₀(p/p0) (measured in decibels, where p is thefunction a(t) measured in units of root mean square sound pressure andp₀ is the reference sound pressure in air).

As shown in FIG. 11A, the acoustic signature 1012 has a signature lengthof L₁ seconds. Portions 1012-A through 1012-C of the acoustic signature1012 correspond to instances in time at which measurable sound pressurewas detected by an acoustic sensor device, such as moments when the tags1010-1 through 1010-4 made contact in response to the physical motion ofclosing or opening the window 1002-1.

An acoustic signature may also be expressed in the frequency-domain as afunction F(ω) (e.g., by transforming the time-domain function using avariety of sound processing techniques, such as a Fourier Transformoperation), where the respective values at various frequencies representthe magnitude of different tones (e.g., spectral coefficients) of theacoustic signal. That is, sound processing techniques may be applied toobtain a function F(ω), which decomposes the time-domain function a(t)into its constituent tones (e.g., sinusoidal functions of variousfrequencies that together compose the time-domain function) andspecifies the relative dominance of those tones. The use of acousticsignatures in identifying monitored objects and their states isdescribed in greater detail with respect to FIGS. 13A-13C.

FIG. 11B illustrates a table 1100 of acoustic signatures, in accordancewith some implementations.

Entries of a database (e.g., table 1100) of acoustic signatures storedata for identifying the states of various objects being monitored in anenvironment. An entry of the database specifies, but is not limited to:an object ID (e.g., unique identifier for a particular object beingmonitored, such as an entryway), an object type (e.g., windows,doorways, appliances, devices, etc.), a location (e.g., a specific room,region, etc. of a particular smart home environment), a correspondingstate (e.g., open, closed, etc.), a current state, and/orcharacteristics of a corresponding acoustic signature, which include anacoustic signature length (i.e., length of detected sound), amplitudevalues (e.g., a function a(t) expressing the measured pressure of anacoustic signal with respect to time), spectral coefficients (e.g., afunction F(ω) expressing magnitudes of different tones of the acousticsignal), a reference distance (i.e., a distance from the monitoredobject at which characteristic values for the acoustic signature wouldbe detected), and/or a reference sensor (e.g., the sensor device thatdetected the acoustic signature during a training/database creationphase).

Table 1100 in FIG. 11B corresponds to various monitored objects in thesmart home environment 100 of FIG. 10. As an example, the first entryspecifies characteristics of an acoustic signature that would correspondto an “open” state of the window 1002-1 located in the living room(e.g., room 1000-1). The current states shown in table 1100 correspondto a moment in time before the acoustic signals 1006 in FIG. 10 weregenerated.

In some implementations, when an acoustic signal is detected in anenvironment (e.g., by a device having an acoustic sensor), one or morecharacteristics (e.g., acoustic length, amplitude values, etc.) of anacoustic signature of that signal are compared against entries of thetable 1100. If a matching entry is found, a current state of a monitoredobject corresponding to the matching entry is updated based on acorresponding state specified by the matching entry. Thus, for example,if a detected acoustic signal has an acoustic signature matching thecharacteristics specified by entry 1 (e.g., an acoustic length L₁,amplitude values expressed by function a₁(t)), the current state of thewindow 1002-1 is updated (or maintained) to reflect the corresponding“open” state.

Information stored in the database, and its use in identifying monitoredobjects and their states, are described in greater detail with respectto FIGS. 13A-13C.

FIG. 12A illustrates a tag, a non-provisioned device, and an acousticsignature of a generated acoustic signal, in accordance with someimplementations.

Specifically, a product packaging 1008 (FIG. 10) for a non-provisioneddevice is illustrated. Tags 1010 (e.g., tags 1010-5 through 1010-7, orcollectively referred to as a single tag associated with a device to beprovisioned) are affixed to product packaging 1008, intended for removalwhen a user seeks to install or otherwise configure a new device, suchas a surveillance camera, for use in a smart home environment 100. Inresponse to a motion in which the tag 1010-5 is torn off the productpackaging 1008, an acoustic signal 1006-4 having an acoustic signature1014 is generated. The portions 1014-A and 1014-B of the acousticsignature 1014 correspond to the acoustic signals generated as the tag1010-5 is torn from the tags 1010-6 and 1010-7, respectively. Based onthe acoustic signature 1014, a corresponding set of instructions forprovisioning the device is executed.

Non-provisioned devices are devices (e.g., cameras 118, thermostats 102,hazard detectors 104, etc.) that have yet to be initialized with anenvironment in which they are to be installed. Instructions forprovisioning a device may include, for example, pairing or associatingan online user account with a non-provisioned device (e.g., a useraccount created with a service provided by a smart home provider serversystem 164, FIG. 1), establishing connectivity with other nearby devicesin a smart home environment, or commencing an installation process forthe non-provisioned device. Multiple tags 1010 corresponding todifferent sets of executable instructions may be used in associationwith the provisioning of a device, such as multiple tags being affixedto a product packaging. Additional examples of executable instructionsrelated to provisioning are described with respect to FIGS. 14A-14C.

Various types of tags 1010 and physical properties that may be modifiedto generate specific acoustic signatures are described with respect toFIG. 11A. Various properties of acoustic signatures are also describedwith respect to FIG. 11A.

FIG. 12B illustrates a table 1200 of acoustic signatures, in accordancewith some implementations.

Entries of a database (e.g., table 1200) of acoustic signatures storedata for identifying a corresponding set of instructions to be executedfor provisioning various devices in an environment. An entry of thedatabase specifies, but is not limited to: a device type (e.g.,surveillance cameras, smart thermostats, hazard detectors, etc.), adevice model (e.g., manufacturer, model number, etc.), a set ofexecutable instructions (e.g., register device with home system,commence pairing operation, etc.), and/or characteristics of acorresponding acoustic signature, which include an acoustic signaturelength (i.e., length of detected sound), amplitude values (e.g., afunction a(t) expressing the measured pressure of an acoustic signalwith respect to time), and spectral coefficients (e.g., a function F(ω)expressing magnitudes of different tones of the acoustic signal).

Table 1200 in FIG. 12B corresponds to various types of devices that maybe provisioned for use in a smart home environment 100 (FIG. 10). As anexample, the first entry specifies characteristics of an acousticsignature corresponding to executable instructions to register a cameradevice (e.g., a camera 118, FIG. 10) with a home system (e.g., smarthome environment 100).

In some implementations, when an acoustic signal is detected in anenvironment (e.g., by a device having an acoustic sensor), one or morecharacteristics (e.g., acoustic length, amplitude values, etc.) of anacoustic signature of that signal are compared against entries of thetable 1200. If a matching entry is found, a corresponding set ofinstructions is executed (e.g., by the non-provisioned device, by adevice in the smart home environment with which the non-provisioneddevice is paired, etc.). For example, because detected acoustic signal1006-4 (FIGS. 10 and 12A) has an acoustic signature 1014 that matchesthe characteristics specified by entry 1 (e.g., amplitude valuesexpressed by function a₁(t)), spectral coefficients expressed byfunction F₁(ω)), instructions to register the non-provisioned cameradevice with the home system are executed.

Information stored in the database, and its use in provisioning devices,is described in greater detail with respect to FIGS. 14A-14C.

FIGS. 13A-13C illustrate a flowchart representation of a method 1300 ofidentifying a monitored object and determining its state, in accordancewith some implementations. In some implementations, the method 1300 isperformed by one or more electronic devices of one or more systems(e.g., devices of a smart home environment 100, FIG. 1; smart devices204 of smart home network 202, FIG. 2; etc.) and/or a server system(e.g., smart home provider server system 164, FIGS. 1 and 2). Thus, insome implementations, the operations of the method 1300 described hereinare entirely interchangeable, and respective operations of the method1300 are performed by any of the aforementioned devices, systems, orcombination of devices and/or systems. For example, step 1304 (e.g.,obtaining a database of stored acoustic signatures) may be performed bya thermostat 102, while step 1314 (e.g., detecting a first acousticsignal) may be performed by a camera 118 that is communicably coupled tothe thermostat 102.

As an overview of the method 1300, in some implementations, the methodis performed (step 1302, FIG. 13A) at a computer system having one ormore processors and memory storing instructions for execution by the oneor more processors, wherein the computer system is communicably coupledto one or more sensor devices. The computer system obtains (step 1304) adatabase of stored acoustic signatures characterizing predefinedacoustic signals generated by passive tags in response to physicalmotion of respective monitored_objects associated with the passive tags.A first acoustic signal characterized by a respective acoustic signatureand generated by a first one of the passive tags is detected (step1314). In response to detecting the first acoustic signal (step 1316,FIG. 13B), the first monitored object associated with the respectiveacoustic signature is identified (step 1318) based on the respectiveacoustic signature and information in the database, and a first state ofthe first monitored object is determined (step 1324) based on therespective acoustic signature and information in the database.Thereafter, the determined first state of the first monitored object isstored (step 1330, FIG. 13C) in the database, and an indication of thefirst state of the first monitored object is provided (step 1336) to amonitoring service associated with the one or more monitored objects.Various implementations of the method 1300 are described throughout andwith respect to FIGS. 13A-13C.

The method 1300 is performed (1302) at a computer system (e.g.,thermostat 102, FIG. 10) having one or more processors and memorystoring instructions for execution by the one or more processors,wherein the computer system is communicably coupled to one or moresensor devices (e.g., wall plug 110, camera 118, hazard detector 104,etc., each equipped with respective acoustic sensors). FIGS. 13A-13Ccorrespond to instructions stored in a computer memory or othercomputer-readable storage medium (e.g., respective memory 606 of thethermostat 102, and/or memory 606 of the camera 118 and hazard detector104). In some implementations, the one or more sensor devices and thecomputer system are located within the same premises (e.g., referring tothe example above, the wall plug 110, thermostat 102, camera 118, andhazard detector 104 are located within the same smart home environment100, FIG. 10). In some implementations, the one or more sensor devicesare components of the computer system (e.g., a thermostat having anacoustic sensor and an IR sensor).

In some implementations, the one or more sensor devices are locatedwithin a premises (e.g., hazard detector 104 and camera 118 in smarthome environment 100, FIG. 10), the computer system is a remote serverlocated outside of the premises (e.g., a smart home provider serversystem 164 that provides a security/monitoring service), and detecting(step 1304, FIG. 13A) the first acoustic signal comprises receiving, atthe computer system and from the one or more sensor devices, the firstacoustic signal. Thus, one or more devices of a smart home environment100 are used to detect acoustic signals in the premises and send thedetected signals to a remote server for processing (e.g., detecting thecorresponding state of a monitored object).

In some implementations, the detecting (step 1304) is performed by afirst one of the one or more sensor devices (e.g., camera 118 detectsacoustic signal), and the identifying (step 1318, FIG. 13B) of the firstmonitored object and the determining (step 1324, FIG. 13B) of the firststate are performed by the computer system (e.g., thermostat 102analyzes detected acoustic signal).

Acoustic Signatures and their Characteristics

The computer system obtains (1304) a database of stored acousticsignatures characterizing predefined acoustic signals generated bypassive tags in response to physical motion of respective monitoredobjects associated with the passive tags. An example of a database ofstored acoustic signatures is illustrated and described with respect toFIG. 11B (e.g., table 1100).

In some implementations, obtaining (1304) the database includesaccessing a database file/table (e.g., table 1100, FIG. 11B), or aportion thereof, stored in the memory of the computer system (e.g.,memory 606 of smart device 204). In some implementations, obtaining thedatabase includes retrieving a database file/table, or a portionthereof, from a remote server (e.g., smart home provider server system164). In some implementations, obtaining the database includes obtaininga portion of a database file/table that corresponds to the sensor devicethat detected the acoustic signal being analyzed. For example, referringto FIG. 10, if wall plug 110 detects the acoustic signal 1006-2generated by a tag associated with the door 1004, entries of thedatabase that list the wall plug 110 as the reference sensor (i.e., thedevice that recorded the corresponding acoustic signature during aconfiguration process) are retrieved. In this example, based on thetable 1100 in FIG. 11B, entries 1, 2, and 5 would be retrieved andcompared against in object identification and state determinationprocesses.

In some implementations, a first one of the passive tags comprises(1306) a material configured to generate a first acoustic signal inresponse to physical contact when physically moved in a predeterminedmanner. In some implementations, the material of the first passive tagis a Velcro material. Alternatively, the material may be an adhesivematerial, or a material whose surface exhibits a predetermined degree offriction. In some implementations, the first passive tag is configuredto generate acoustic signals having substantially the same acousticsignatures in response to physical movement that is substantially thesame. By designing passive tags in this way, consistent sound signaturesare generated and the states of monitored objects may be accuratelytracked. Passive tags are described in detail with respect to FIG. 11A.

In some implementations, at least some of the respective monitoredobjects associated with the passive tags are (1308) entryways of apremises (e.g., windows 1002-1 and 1002-2, door 1004, FIG. 10).

In some implementations, acoustic signatures, which include the storedacoustic signatures in the database and a respective acoustic signatureof a first acoustic signal (detected in step 1314), are respectivelydefined (1310) by one or more characteristics of acoustic signatures.The characteristics include at least one of an acoustic signaturelength, one or more amplitude values (sound pressure, or other acousticmeasurements such as sound intensity, sound pressure level, etc.), andone or more spectral coefficients for one or more respectivefrequencies. For example, an acoustic signature for entry 2 of the table1100 is illustrated in FIG. 11A, and is defined by an acoustic signaturelength L₁, amplitude values expressed as function a₁(t), and spectralcoefficients expressed as function F₁(ω).

In some implementations, acoustic signatures are defined by patterns ofdetected sound, where the pattern represents points in time (over thelength of an acoustic signature) at which sound is detected,irrespective of the particular amplitude. A pattern defining an acousticsignature may, for example, consist of a sequence of time pointscorresponding to detected sounds (e.g., sequence of three clicks, eachclick being detected 1 second apart). Defining acoustic signatures usingbasic acoustic patterns provides a simplified expression of a detectedacoustic signal, which may expedite processing (e.g., object and stateidentification) and minimize processing requirements (e.g., forego useof signal processing techniques that decompose a time-domain signal intofrequency components).

In some implementations, at least some of the stored acoustic signaturesare defined by one or more of the characteristics excluding amplitudevalues. In other words, stored acoustic signatures are preconfiguredonly with respect to spectral coefficients, signature length, and/oracoustic patterns. Consequently, object identification and statedetermination are independent of volume.

In some implementations, at least some of the stored acoustic signaturesare partially distinct with respect to at least one of the respectiveone or more characteristics by which they are defined (e.g., some havesame acoustic signature lengths, but different amplitudes values andspectral coefficients). In some implementations, all stored acousticsignatures are completely distinct (i.e., each stored acoustic signatureis defined by unique set of one or more characteristics).

In some implementations, each or any combination of the one or morecharacteristics (e.g., acoustic signature length, amplitude values,spectral coefficients, acoustic patterns, etc.) respectively definingthe stored acoustic signatures is associated (1312) with: a respectiveobject (e.g., window 1002-1, FIG. 10), a type of object (e.g., window,door, washing machine, etc.), a state or change of state for arespective object (e.g., open/close state, or state toggle, for thewindow 1002-1), a state or change of state for a respective type ofobject (e.g., open/close state, or state toggle, for a window), and/or alocation (e.g., room 1000-1, a particular environment/premises ofmultiple environments associated with a user, etc.). That is,characteristics of an acoustic signature may be selectively mapped toparticular aspects of a monitored object.

For example, referring to table 1100 in FIG. 11B, the acoustic signaturefor entry 3 is defined by an acoustic signature length L₃, amplitudevalues expressed as function a₃(t), and spectral coefficients expressedas function F₃(ω), where the combination of characteristics isassociated with and mapped to an open state of the door 1004 (FIG. 10)located in room 1000-1. In another example, the acoustic signaturelength and spectral coefficients of an acoustic signature are associatedwith and mapped to a state for a type of object (e.g., the opening ofwindows), while the amplitude is associated with a particular one ofthose objects (e.g., a signature with greater amplitude valuescorresponds to a window that is closer to a sensor device that detectedthe acoustic signal, while a signature with smaller amplitude valuescorresponds to window that is farther away).

In some implementations, respective amplitude values defining at leastsome of the stored acoustic signatures are associated with distinctlocations. That is, the amplitude (i.e., general sound intensity) of adetected acoustic signal can be used to determine a correspondinglocation (e.g., a particular room) in which the signal was detected.Based on the determined location, and information that specifies whichobjects are being monitored at that location, an associated object andits state is deduced.

In some implementations, a first one of the stored acoustic signaturesis defined by respective one or more characteristics that are uniquelyassociated with a particular object, and a particular state of theparticular object. Stated another way, the particular characteristicsdefining the first stored acoustic signature only correspond to theparticular object and the particular state, and the particular objectand the particular state only correspond to the first stored acousticsignature. Given the one-to-one mapping in such implementations,ambiguities that may arise in identifying an object and its state aremore easily resolved. In some implementations, each stored acousticsignature in the database is uniquely associated with particular objectand state of the object.

In some implementations, each of the stored acoustic signatures isassociated with a respective reference distance. A reference distance isa distance from a monitored object at which an acoustic signal,generated by physical motion of the monitored object and characterizedby a respective acoustic signature, would be detected. For example,referring to FIG. 11B, the characteristics of an acoustic signature inentry 1 of the table 1100 are associated with a reference distance d₁,which is a distance from window 1002-1 at which the characteristics ofthe acoustic signature (e.g., a₁(t), F₁(w)) would be detected. In somecases, the reference distance is used in combination with the distancebetween a sensor and each monitored object to distinguish betweenobjects (e.g., by applying compensation techniques, as described ingreater detail with respect to steps 1318 and 1324, FIG. 13B).

In some implementations, each of the stored acoustic signatures isassociated a respective sensor device that detected a respectiveacoustic signal characterized by the respective acoustic signatureduring a configuration process (during which one or more entries of thedatabase are created). For example, the acoustic signatures may beassociated with respective sensor devices and their specifichardware/software capabilities (e.g., microphone sensitivity). In someimplementations, the respective reference distance corresponds to adistance of the respective monitored object from a respective sensordevice that detected the respective acoustic signal during aconfiguration process (e.g., referring to entry 1 of the table 1100 inFIG. 11B, reference distance d₁ is the distance between the window1002-1 and the wall plug 110, as shown in FIG. 10).

Creating Database of Acoustic Signatures

In some implementations, the database of stored acoustic signatures ispredefined irrespective of the environment that includes the respectivemonitored objects. For example, the database may be provided by amanufacturer of the passive tags, where the database specifies acousticsignatures and corresponding objects and object states without a userneeding to configure devices for use with the tags.

In additional and/or alternative implementations, a configurationprocess is performed to create the database of stored acousticsignatures. That is, prior to obtaining the database, one or moreentries of the database of stored acoustic signatures are created.Creating the one or more entries includes detecting the predefinedacoustic signals, each of the predefined acoustic signals characterizedby a respective stored acoustic signature, and generated by a respectivepassive tag in response to physical motion of a respective objectassociated with the respective passive tag. Furthermore, creating theone or more entries includes, for each predefined acoustic signal thatwas detected, associating the respective stored acoustic signature with:the respective object, and a state of the respective object resultingfrom the physical motion of the respective object.

As an example, referring to the smart home environment 100 of FIG. 10, aconfiguration process is performed so that the smart home environment100 is configured to recognize the opening/closing of a door 1004 basedon an acoustic signal 1006-2 generated by an associated tag when thedoor 1004 is opened/closed. This configuration process includes usingone or more devices equipped with acoustic sensors, such as a camera 118that includes a microphone, to detect the acoustic signal 1006-2generated in response to the door 1004 being opened or closed.Thereafter, based on the corresponding state of the door 1004, an entryis created in a database (e.g., stored in the memory of the camera 118)that specifies characteristics of an acoustic signature of the detectedacoustic signal 1006-2 and associates those characteristics with anopen/closed state of the door 1004. An example is shown in table 1100 ofFIG. 11B, where entries 3 and 4 specify characteristics (e.g., acousticsignature length, amplitude values, spectral coefficients) ofcorresponding acoustic signatures, and are associated with the open andclosed states of the door 1004, respectively.

In some implementations, creating the one or more entries includesspecifying the sensor device that detected an acoustic signal having aparticular acoustic signature during the configuration process (andoptionally a distance of the sensor device from the object/tag). Thus,for example, assuming that multiple sensor devices were activelylistening during a configuration process, a respective entry would becreated for each of the active sensor devices in response to aparticular physical motion of an object, and each entry may have atleast a partially distinct acoustic signature (e.g., depending on theposition and/or acoustic sensitivity of the respective sensor device).Thus, respective entries for a given object and its state—althoughcorresponding to the same acoustic signal generated in response to thesame physical motion during the configuration process—may includepartially different acoustic signatures depending on the correspondingdevice that detected the acoustic signal (e.g., entries for devicespositioned in different rooms may have different amplitude values forthe same object/state).

In some implementations, detecting the predefined acoustic signalsduring the configuration process includes detecting each of thepredefined acoustic signals in response to a respective object beingphysically moved once (e.g., one or more sensor devices begin activelylistening, and a user physically moves the object/tag being configuredonce). In some implementations, a monitored object being configured ismoved multiple times such that the tag generates multiple acousticsignals having respective acoustic signatures. Detected acoustic signalsand signatures associated with the same object and corresponding statemay be stored as separate, related entries, or alternatively may beconsolidated and stored as a single entry in the database (e.g.,determine an average, median, maximum, minimum, etc. for the multipleacoustic signatures).

In some implementations, associating the respective stored acousticsignature comprises requesting authorization to associate the respectivestored acoustic signature with the respective object and the state ofthe respective object, and performing the associating in response toreceiving the authorization. As an example, requesting authorization toassociate may include displaying a message on a user interfaceconfirming association of a detected acoustic signal with a particularobject and state, where a corresponding entry is created in the databasein response to detecting a user input confirming the association.

Identifying a Monitored Object and Determining its State

A first acoustic signal characterized by a respective acoustic signatureand generated by a first one of the passive tags is detected (1314). Forexample, an acoustic signal 1006-1 in FIG. 10 is detected in response tothe window 1002-1 being closed. In some implementations, the firstacoustic signal is detected by the computer system (e.g., a thermostat102 equipped with an acoustic sensor), and/or by the one or more sensordevices communicably coupled to the computer system (e.g., camera 118,equipped with an acoustic sensor and communicably coupled to thethermostat 102). In some implementations, multiple sensor devices detectthe first acoustic signal (e.g., camera 118, thermostat 102, and wallplug 110, FIG. 10).

Referring now to FIG. 13B, in response to detecting the first acousticsignal (1316), and based on the respective acoustic signature (e.g.,acoustic signature 1012, FIG. 11A) and information in the database(e.g., table 1100, FIG. 11B), a first one of the monitored objectsassociated with the respective acoustic signature is identified (1318),and a first state of the first monitored object is determined (1324).

In some implementations, identifying the first monitored object and/ordetermining the first state of the first monitored object comprises(steps 1320, 1326) comparing one or more respective characteristics(e.g., acoustic signature length, amplitude values, spectralcoefficients, etc.) of the respective acoustic signature of the firstacoustic signal with one or more respective characteristics of one ormore of the stored acoustic signatures from the database. A matchingacoustic signature that satisfies a match criterion is identified (steps1322, 1328) from the one or more stored acoustic signatures from thedatabase, wherein the matching acoustic signature is associated with thefirst monitored object and the first state of the first monitoredobject. For example, referring to FIG. 11A, the acoustic signature 1012(of an acoustic signal 1006-1 generated by the tags 1010-1 through1010-4 in response to the window 1002-1 being closed) is defined by anacoustic signature length L₁, amplitude values expressed by functiona₁(t), and spectral coefficients F₁(ω). One or more of thesecharacteristics are then compared to the entries of the table 1100 inFIG. 11B. Given the match between characteristics of the acousticsignature 1012 and values of entry 2, a closed state of the window1002-1 is determined.

In some implementations, the match criterion specifies one or morethresholds for one or more respective characteristics of acousticsignatures. The match criterion and the specified thresholds represent asimilarity requirement between the acoustic signature of a detectedsignal and the stored signatures in the database being compared against.The one or more thresholds may be defined as a percentage of ordeviation from respective values stored in database (e.g., amplitudevalues of acoustic signature for detected signal and a stored signaturemust be within 10% of the respective values for the stored signature).The match criterion may specify one threshold (e.g., a threshold foramplitude values) or multiple thresholds (e.g., respective thresholdsfor acoustic signature length and spectral coefficients). In someimplementations, respective thresholds for respective characteristicsare distinct (e.g., different thresholds for amplitude values andspectral coefficients).

In some situations, the physical motion of a monitored object variesbased on a number of factors. For instance, a window may be closed atdifferent speeds or with different amounts of force, possibly resultingfrom the unique tendencies of the individual who causes the physicalmotion. As a result, the length of the acoustic signature or theamplitude values (e.g., volume) characterizing an acoustic signalgenerated by a tag may vary. To account for these variations and toaccurately compare against stored acoustic signatures, in someimplementations, a compensated acoustic signature for the first acousticsignal is obtained by scaling (e.g., shrinking/expanding) a respectiveacoustic signature length of the first acoustic signal to match at leasta first acoustic signature length defining a first one of the storedacoustic signatures in the database. In some implementations, thecompensated acoustic signature includes proportionally scaled amplitudevalues and/or spectral coefficients of the acoustic signature.Identifying (1318) the first monitored object and determining (1324) thefirst state of the first monitored object are then performed based onthe compensated acoustic signature and the information in the database.

In addition to characteristics of the acoustic signature of the detectedacoustic signal, supplementary information may be used for identifyingthe first monitored object and/or determining the first state of thefirst monitored object. That is, in some implementations, identifying(1318) the first monitored object and/or determining (1324) the firststate of the first monitored object is further based on one or moreadditional inputs received from the one or more sensor devicescommunicably coupled to the computer system (or received from otherdevices distinct from the one or more sensor devices). In someimplementations, the one or more additional inputs are associated with atime at which the first acoustic signal is detected. In someimplementations, the one or more additional inputs are retrieved from(or transmitted by) the one or more sensor devices in response todetecting the first acoustic signal.

In some implementations, the one or more sensor devices include a cameradevice (e.g., camera 118, FIG. 10), and the one or more additionalinputs include video data associated with the detected first acousticsignal. For example, a recorded video clip of a room in which anacoustic signal was detected may be processed and used to confirm achange in state of a monitored object (e.g., in FIG. 10, video footagecaptured by camera 118 indicates that the door 1004 is open, thusconfirming a determined state change).

In some implementations, the one or more additional inputs includecurrent presence detection data associated with the detected firstacoustic signal. For example, if the hazard detector 104 in FIG. 10determines (e.g., using IR sensors) that a user is present in the room1000-2 in which the acoustic signal 1006-3 is detected, a higherlikelihood is attributed to the possibility of a state change for thewindow 1002-2.

In some implementations, the one or more sensor devices include athermostat device (e.g., thermostat 102, FIG. 10), and the one or moreadditional inputs include temperature data associated with the detectedfirst acoustic signal. For example, a sudden fluctuation in temperaturedetected by a device in the same room in which an acoustic signal isdetected may be used to confirm a suspected change in state (e.g., inFIG. 10, thermostat 102 detecting fluctuation in temperature resultingfrom window 1002-2 being opened).

In some implementations, the one or more sensor devices include anacoustic sensor, and the one or more additional inputs includeadditional acoustic data associated with the detected first acousticsignal. As an example, detected ambient noise, or changes thereof, maybe used to deduce a monitored object (and state) to which the detectedacoustic signal corresponds (e.g., in FIG. 10, heightened noise levelsdetected by thermostat 102 due to wind suggests an open state change ofa nearby entryway).

In some implementations, the one or more additional inputs include auser input confirming the first state of the first monitored object. Forexample, in response to detecting the first acoustic signal, a user isprompted with message on a display interface (e.g., on a client device504, FIG. 10) requesting confirmation of a state of a monitored object.

In some implementations, the one or more additional inputs includecontextual data that includes at least one of a date and/or time atwhich, a geographical location at which, or a temperature readingobtained when, the first acoustic signal was detected. For example, ifan acoustic signal is detected at night during winter months in alocation that frequently snows, a higher likelihood is attributed to thepossibility that a corresponding entryway, such as a window, is beingclosed, rather than opened.

In some implementations, the one or more additional inputs include alocation of a respective sensor device of the one or more sensor devicesthat detected the first acoustic signal. That is, if one or morecharacteristics of an acoustic signature satisfy a threshold, acorresponding location of the detected acoustic signal may be deducedbased on the location of the device that detected the acoustic signal.For example, an acoustic signal (and thus, the monitored object to beidentified) is in the same location as the sensor device if amplitudevalues for the detected acoustic signal are greater than or equal to athreshold value (and conversely, an acoustic signal (and thus, themonitored object to be identified) is in a different location as thesensor device if amplitude values for the detected acoustic signals areless than a threshold value.

The location of the respective sensor device that detected the firstacoustic signal may be used in additional and/or alternativeimplementations. Particularly, in some situations, identical tags thatgenerate signals having substantially the same acoustic signature (whendetected from the same reference distance) are used throughout a givensmart home environment to monitor the states of different objects.Because monitored objects in these cases might only be distinguishedbased on their relative distances from sensor devices, objects and theirstates may be identified by using a compensated acoustic signature thatis based on the location of the respective sensor device that detectedthe acoustic signal. That is, in some implementations, a compensatedacoustic signature for the first acoustic signal is obtained by scalingone or more characteristics (e.g., amplitude values) of the respectiveacoustic signature (of the detected first acoustic signal) in accordancewith a distance between the respective sensor device and the firstpassive tag that generated the first acoustic signal. Identifying (1318)the first monitored object and determining (1324) the first state of thefirst monitored object are then performed based on the compensatedacoustic signature and the information in the database. To scalecharacteristics of an acoustic signature, a respective scalingcoefficient is first calculated for each sensor device with respect tostored entries of the database. Scaling coefficients are calculatedusing a non-linear equation (e.g., inverse square law, assuming noreflections or reverberation) that accounts for a difference between areference distance d_(def) for an acoustic signature (i.e., a distancefrom a monitored object at which corresponding characteristic values forthe acoustic signature would be detected) and a distance d_(sensor) ofthe sensor device from the tag generating the acoustic signal. Foramplitude values measured in units of sound pressure, the scalingcoefficient is defined as (d_(ref)/d_(sector)), whereas for soundintensity, the scaling coefficient is defined as (d_(ref)/d_(sensor))².Using calculated scaling coefficients, characteristics of an acousticsignature for a detected acoustic signal are either amplified or shrunkto obtain the compensated acoustic signature. If the compensatedacoustic signature matches the reference signature, then a correspondingobject and its state are confirmed.

Referring now to FIG. 13C, after identifying (1318) the first monitoredobject and determining (1324) the first state of the first monitoredobject, the determined first state of the first monitored object isstored (1332) in the database.

In some implementations, storing (1330) the determined first statecomprises (1332) updating a current state of the first monitored objectfrom a previously stored state to the determined first state, whereinthe determined first state and the previously stored state representdistinct states of the first monitored object. For example, the table1100 in FIG. 11B includes a current state field, indicating a currentstate for a monitored object associated with a particular entry. Entries1 and 2 indicate that a current state of the window 1002-1 is open.Thus, if an acoustic signature of a detected acoustic signal correspondsto the stored acoustic signature of entry 2, the new state of the window1002-1 is determined to be closed, and the current state fields for anyentries corresponding to the window 1002-1 are updated to “Closed.”

In some implementations, a current state of the first monitored objectin the database is a previously stored state, and storing in thedatabase the determined first state of the first monitored objectcomprises maintaining the current state, wherein the determined firststate and the previously stored state are the same. In order words, therespective acoustic signature corresponds to only one particular stateof a respective object. Thus, in response to detecting subsequentacoustic signals having the same respective acoustic signature, thecurrent state of the object remains unchanged.

Rather than storing multiple acoustic signatures that correspond todifferent states of a monitored object, in alternative implementations,only one acoustic signature is maintained for an object. Thus, detectingan acoustic signal characterized by the acoustic signature toggles acurrent state of the object. In these implementations, after updating(step 1332) the current state of the first monitored object to thedetermined first state from the previously stored state, a secondacoustic signal is detected that is characterized by the same respectiveacoustic signature as the first acoustic signal, and generated by thefirst passive tag (e.g., the same first tag generates another acousticsignal that has the same acoustic signature). In response to detectingthe second acoustic signal, and based on the respective acousticsignature and information in the database, the first monitored objectassociated with the respective acoustic signature is identified, and thecurrent state of the first monitored object is updated from the firststate to the previously stored state. Thus, only one acoustic signatureis maintained, and in response to detecting an acoustic signal havingthe acoustic signature, the state of a corresponding object toggles. Anexample is shown in entry 5 of table 1100 (FIG. 11B).

An indication of the first state of the first monitored object isprovided (1334) to a monitoring service associated with the one or moremonitored objects. In some implementations, the monitoring service is anapplication on an associated client device (e.g., client device 504,FIG. 7). In some implementations, the monitoring service is provided bythe computer system and/or the one or more communicably coupled sensordevices. In some implementations, the monitoring service is provided bya remote server distinct from the computer system (e.g., smart homeprovider server system 164, FIG. 1). The indication may be a visual(e.g., alert displayed on a client device 504), audible (e.g., a chime),and/or other sensory indication (e.g., tactile feedback on a clientdevice 504).

In some implementations, the first state corresponds to a change ofstate for the first monitored object, and the computer system causes adevice communicably coupled to the computer system to activate inresponse to the change of state. For example, referring to FIG. 10, inresponse to detecting an open state of a door 1004, a command may besent to the nearest surveillance camera (e.g., camera 118) to begincapturing video. As another example, in response to detecting an openstate of a window, a command may be sent to the nearest surveillancecamera to begin capturing video.

FIGS. 14A-14C illustrate a flowchart representation of a method 1400 ofidentifying a non-provisioned device and a set of executableinstructions for provisioning the non-provisioned device, in accordancewith some implementations. In some implementations, the method 1400 isperformed by one or more electronic devices of one or more systems(e.g., devices of a smart home environment 100, FIG. 1; smart devices204 of smart home network 202, FIG. 2; etc.) and/or a server system(e.g., smart home provider server system 164, FIGS. 1 and 2). Thus, insome implementations, the operations of the method 1400 described hereinare entirely interchangeable, and respective operations of the method1400 are performed by any of the aforementioned devices, systems, orcombination of devices and/or systems. For example, step 1404 (e.g.,obtaining a database of stored acoustic signatures) may be performed bya thermostat 102, while step 1414 (e.g., detecting a first acousticsignal) may be performed by a camera 118 that is communicably coupled tothe thermostat 102.

As an overview of the method 1400, in some implementations, the methodis performed (step 1402, FIG. 14A) at a computer system having one ormore processors and memory storing instructions for execution by the oneor more processors, wherein the computer system is communicably coupledto one or more sensor devices. The computer system obtains (step 1404) adatabase of stored acoustic signatures characterizing predefinedacoustic signals generated by passive tags in response to physicalmotion of the passive tags, wherein the passive tags are associated withnon-provisioned devices, and wherein the acoustic signatures areassociated with respective sets of executable instructions forprovisioning the non-provisioned devices. A first acoustic signalcharacterized by a respective acoustic signature and generated by afirst one of the passive tags is detected (step 1414). In response todetecting the first acoustic signal and based on the respective acousticsignature and information in the database, a first one of thenon-provisioned devices associated with the respective acousticsignature is identified (step 1418, FIG. 14B) and a first one of therespective sets of executable instructions for provisioning the firstnon-provisioned device is identified (step 1424). Thereafter, thecomputer system causes (step 1440, FIG. 14C) execution of the first setof executable instructions, thereby causing to commence a softwareprocess for provisioning the first non-provisioned device. Variousimplementations of the method 1400 are described throughout and withrespect to FIGS. 14A-14C.

The method 1400 is performed (1402) at a computer system (e.g.,thermostat 102, FIG. 10) having one or more processors and memorystoring instructions for execution by the one or more processors,wherein the computer system is communicably coupled to one or moresensor devices (e.g., camera 118 and hazard detector 104, each equippedwith respective acoustic sensors). FIGS. 14A-14C correspond toinstructions stored in a computer memory or other computer-readablestorage medium (e.g., memory 606 of the thermostat 102, and/or memory606 of the camera 118 and hazard detector 104). Various implementationsof the computer system and one or more sensors devices are described indetail with respect to the method 1300 (FIG. 13A).

Acoustic Signatures and their Characteristics

The computer system obtains (1404) a database of stored acousticsignatures characterizing predefined acoustic signals generated bypassive tags in response to physical motion of the passive tags (e.g.,table 1200, FIG. 12B). The passive tags are associated withnon-provisioned devices, and the acoustic signatures are associated withrespective sets of executable instructions for provisioning thenon-provisioned devices. Provisioning (or installing, initializing,configuring, etc.) a device may include one or a series of steps forenabling a device to operate within and/or communicate with otherdevices in an environment. In some implementations, provisioningcomprises (1406) pairing or associating an online user account with arespective identifier of a non-provisioned device (e.g., registering anew device with a smart home environment, or a service provided for asmart home environment). Various instructions for provisioning aredescribed in greater detail below with respect to FIG. 14C.

In some implementations, obtaining the database includes accessing adatabase file/table (e.g., table 1200, FIG. 12B), or a portion thereof,stored in the memory of the computer system (e.g., memory 606 of smartdevice 204, FIG. 6). In some implementations, obtaining the databaseincludes retrieving a database file/table, or a portion thereof, from aremote server (e.g., smart home provider server system 164). In someimplementations, the database of stored acoustic signatures ispredefined irrespective of the environment in which a non-provisioneddevice is to be provisioned. For example, the database may be predefinedand provided by manufacturers of the non-provisioned devices that usethe passive tags (e.g., Manufacturer A provides a database of acousticsignatures for the different devices it manufacturers).

In some implementations, the first passive tag is (1408) a component ofa packaging associated with the first non-provisioned device (e.g.,adhesive material, perforated material for tearing off, etc.). Anexample is shown in FIG. 12A, where the tags 1010-4 through 1010-6 areaffixed to the product packaging 1008 and generate an acoustic signal1006-4 in response to being torn off In some implementations, the firstpassive tag is a component of the first non-provisioned device itself(e.g., reusable mechanism integrated into the physical devicepackaging). In some implementations, the first passive tag comprises amaterial configured to generate the first acoustic signal in response tophysical contact when physically moved in a predetermined manner.Various implementations of passive tags are described in detail withrespect to FIG. 11A.

In some implementations, acoustic signatures, which include the storedacoustic signatures in the database and a respective acoustic signatureof a first acoustic signal (detected in step 1414), are respectivelydefined by one or more characteristics of acoustic signatures. Thecharacteristics include at least one of an acoustic signature length,one or more amplitude values (or other acoustic measurements, such assound intensity, sound pressure level, etc.), and one or more spectralcoefficients for one or more respective frequencies. An example is shownin FIG. 12B, where an acoustic signature for entry 1 is defined by anacoustic signature length L₁, amplitude values expressed as functiona₁(t), and spectral coefficients expressed as function F₁(ω). Variousimplementations of acoustic signatures and their characteristics aredescribed in greater detail with respect to the method 1300 (FIG. 13A).

In some implementations, each or any combination of the one or morecharacteristics (e.g., acoustic signature length, amplitude values,spectral coefficients, acoustic patterns, etc.) respectively definingthe stored acoustic signatures is associated (1410) with: a device type(e.g., camera devices, thermostats, etc.) and/or a respective set ofexecutable instructions (e.g., commence pairing operation). Each or anycombination of the one or more characteristics respectively defining thestored acoustic signatures may also be associated with devicespecifications of a non-provisioned device (e.g., device manufacturer,model, year of manufacture, revision, etc.). Characteristics of anacoustic signature may therefore be selectively mapped to particularaspects of a non-provisioned device.

For example, referring to table 1200 in FIG. 12B, the acoustic signaturefor entry 1 is defined by an acoustic signature length L₁, amplitudevalues expressed as function a₁(t), and spectral coefficients expressedas function F₁(ω), where the combination of characteristics isassociated with and mapped to Model A of a camera device (e.g., camera118) manufactured by Manufacturer A, and is also associated withinstructions to register the camera device with a home system. Asanother example, referring to entries 1 and 2 of the table 1200, theacoustic signature length L₁ is associated with and mapped to aparticular device type (e.g., camera devices) and set of instructions(e.g., register device with home system), while the respectivecombination of amplitude values and spectral coefficients are mapped toparticular models of the camera device (e.g., a₁(t) and F₁(ω) mapped toManufacturer A and Model A, while a₂(t) and F₂(ω) mapped to ManufacturerB and Model X).

In some implementations, a first one of the stored acoustic signaturesis defined by respective one or more characteristics that are uniquelyassociated with a particular device type and a particular set ofexecutable instructions (i.e., the particular characteristics definingthe first acoustic signature only correspond to the particular devicetype and the particular set of executable instructions, and theparticular device type and the particular set of executable instructionsonly correspond to the first acoustic signature).

In some implementations, each or any combination of the one or morecharacteristics respectively defining the stored acoustic signatures isassociated with a respective stage of a plurality of stages of thesoftware process for provisioning the first non-provisioned device. Forexample, a first acoustic signature (corresponding to an acoustic signalgenerated by a first tag) is associated with instructions for loading asoftware installation program on the non-provisioned device, while asecond acoustic signature (corresponding to an acoustic signal generatedby a second tag) is associated with instructions for connecting thenon-provisioned device to a local Wi-Fi network after the softwareinstallation program has been loaded.

In some implementations, each or any combination of the one or morecharacteristics respectively defining the stored acoustic signatures isassociated with a location in which a respective non-provisioned deviceis configured to operate. For example, different acoustic signatures maybe used to allow a user to designate a room for installing anon-provisioned device (e.g., one tag for installing the non-provisioneddevice in a bedroom, a different tag for installing the non-provisioneddevice in a living room, etc.).

In some implementations, each or any combination of the one or morecharacteristics respectively defining the stored acoustic signatures isassociated with a device type with which the non-provisioned device isto be integrated through provisioning. For example, a first acousticsignature may be used for integrating a camera device with a personalcomputer system, while a distinct second acoustic signature may be usedfor integrating a camera device with a smart home environment thatcomprises a plurality of other smart devices.

In some implementations, each or any combination of the one or morecharacteristics respectively defining the stored acoustic signatures isassociated with a software package version for a respective set ofexecutable instructions. In some implementations, each or anycombination of the one or more characteristics respectively defining thestored acoustic signatures is associated with a current software and/orfirmware version of a respective non-provisioned device (e.g., distinctacoustic signatures for different firmware versions of the samenon-provisioned device).

In some implementations, each of the stored acoustic signatures isassociated with a respective reference distance (i.e., a distance from arespective non-provisioned device at which a respective acoustic signal,generated by physical motion of associated tags and characterized by arespective acoustic signature, would be detected). In someimplementations, each of the stored acoustic signatures is associated arespective sensor device (e.g., stored acoustic signatures are acousticsignatures of acoustic signals that would be detected using a particularsensor device).

Identifying a Non-Provisioned Device and Executable Instructions

A first acoustic signal characterized by a respective acoustic signatureand generated by a first one of the passive tags is detected (1414). Forexample, an acoustic signal 1006-4 in FIG. 12A is detected in responseto the user opening the product packaging 1008 of a non-provisioneddevice (e.g., a camera 118). In some implementations, the first acousticsignal is detected by the computer system (e.g., a thermostat 102equipped with an acoustic sensor), and/or by the one or more sensordevices communicably coupled to the computer system (e.g., camera 118,equipped with an acoustic sensor and communicably coupled to thethermostat 102). In some implementations, multiple sensor devices detectthe first acoustic signal (e.g., camera 118, thermostat 102, and wallplug 110, FIG. 10).

Referring now to FIG. 14B, in response to detecting the first acousticsignal (1416), based on the respective acoustic signature (e.g.,acoustic signature 1014, FIG. 12A) and information in the database(e.g., table 1200, FIG. 12B), a first one of the non-provisioned devicesassociated with the respective acoustic signature is identified (1418),and a first one of the respective sets of executable instructions forprovisioning the first non-provisioned device is identified (1424).

In some implementations, identifying the first non-provisioned deviceand identifying the first set of executable instructions comprises(steps 1420, 1426) comparing one or more respective characteristics(e.g., acoustic signature length, amplitude values, spectralcoefficients, etc.) of the respective acoustic signature of the firstacoustic signal with one or more respective characteristics of one ormore of the stored acoustic signatures from the database. A matchingacoustic signature that satisfies a match criterion is identified (steps1422, 1428) from the one or more stored acoustic signatures from thedatabase, wherein the matching acoustic signature is associated with thefirst non-provisioned device and the first set of executableinstructions. For example, referring to FIG. 12A, the acoustic signature1014 (of an acoustic signal 1006-4 generated by the tags 1010-5 through1010-7 when torn from the product packaging 1008) is defined by anacoustic signature length L₁, amplitude values expressed by functiona₁(t), and spectral coefficients F₁(ω). One or more of thesecharacteristics are then compared to the entries of the table 1200 inFIG. 12B. Given the match between characteristics of the acousticsignature 1014 and values of entry 1, the non-provisioned device isidentified as a camera device, specifically Model A made by ManufacturerA. Furthermore, instructions to register the non-provisioned device witha home system (e.g., smart home environment 100) are also identified.

In some implementations, the match criterion specifies one or morethresholds for one or more respective characteristics of acousticsignatures. Various implementations of the match criterion and specifiedthresholds, which represent a similarity requirement between theacoustic signature of a detected signal and the stored signatures in thedatabase being compared against, are described in greater detail withrespect to the method 1300 in FIG. 13B.

To account for natural variations in the physical motion or force usedwith respect to tags, a compensated acoustic signature is sometimes usedfor identifying the non-provisioned device and correspondinginstructions. That is, in some implementations, a compensated acousticsignature for the first acoustic signal is obtained by scaling (e.g.,shrinking/expanding) a respective acoustic signature length (andoptionally amplitude values, and/or spectral coefficients) of the firstacoustic signal to match at least a first acoustic signature lengthdefining a first one of the stored acoustic signatures in the database.Identifying (1418) the first non-provisioned object and identifying(1424) the first set of executable instructions are then performed basedon the compensated acoustic signature and the information in thedatabase.

Compensated acoustic signatures may also be used when acoustic signalsare detected at significantly greater or shorter distances from thenon-provisioned device in comparison to the reference distances of thestored acoustic signatures. Particularly, in some implementations, acompensated acoustic signature for the first acoustic signal is obtainedby scaling one or more characteristics (e.g., amplitude values) of therespective acoustic signature in accordance with a distance between therespective sensor and the first passive tag that generated the firstacoustic signal. Identifying (1418) the first non-provisioned object andidentifying (1424) the first set of executable instructions are thenperformed based on the compensated acoustic signature and theinformation in the database. To scale characteristics of an acousticsignature, a respective scaling coefficient is first calculated for eachsensor device with respect to stored entries of the database. Scalingcoefficients are calculated using a non-linear equation (e.g., inversesquare law, assuming no reflections or reverberation) that accounts fora difference between a reference distance d_(ref) for an acousticsignature (i.e., a distance from a non-provisioned device at whichcorresponding characteristic values for the acoustic signature would bedetected) and a distance d_(sensor) of the sensor device from the taggenerating the acoustic signal. For amplitude values measured in unitsof sound pressure, the scaling coefficient is defined as(d_(ref)/d_(sensor)), whereas for sound intensity, the scalingcoefficient is defined as (d_(ref)/d_(sensor))². Using calculatedscaling coefficients, characteristics of an acoustic signature for adetected acoustic signal are either amplified or shrunk to generate thecompensated acoustic signature.

In addition to characteristics of the acoustic signature of the detectedacoustic signal, supplementary information may be used for identifyingthe first non-provisioned device and identifying the first set ofexecutable instructions. That is, in some implementations, identifying(1418) the first non-provisioned object and identifying (1424) the firstset of executable instructions is further based on one or moreadditional inputs received from the one or more sensor devicescommunicably coupled to the computer system (or received from otherdevices distinct from the one or more sensor devices). In someimplementations, the one or more additional inputs are associated with atime at which the first acoustic signal is detected. In someimplementations, the one or more additional inputs are retrieved from(or transmitted by) the one or more sensor devices in response todetecting the first acoustic signal.

In some implementations, the one or more sensor devices include a cameradevice (e.g., camera 118), and the one or more additional inputs includevideo data associated with the detected first acoustic signal (e.g., inFIG. 10, using camera 118 to capture images/video data indicating andconfirming that a tag is removed from a product packaging 1008). In someimplementations, the one or more additional inputs include a user inputconfirming the first non-provisioned device and the first set ofexecutable instructions. For example, in response to detecting the firstacoustic signal, a user is prompted with message on a display interface(e.g., of a nearby device, such as thermostat 102 in FIG. 10) requestingconfirmation of the first non-provisioned device and the first set ofexecutable instructions (e.g., confirming that installation of a newcamera device is commencing).

Executable Instructions for Provisioning Devices

Referring now to FIG. 14C, in some implementations, the first set ofexecutable instructions includes (1430) instructions for executinginstallation software (e.g., entry 5 of the table 1200, FIG. 12B). Insome implementations, the installation software is stored in the memoryof the first non-provisioned device or computer system.

In some implementations, the first set of executable instructionsincludes (1432) instructions for registering the first non-provisioneddevice with the computer system (e.g., entries 1 and 2 of the table1200, FIG. 12B). Registering the first non-provisioned device mayinclude providing a device identifier (or other device information) ofthe first non-provisioned device to a device or service (e.g., a deviceof a smart home environment 100, FIG. 10; smart home provider serversystem 164; etc.) that maintains a database of connected devices of asmart home environment.

In some implementations, the first set of executable instructionsincludes (1434) instructions for commencing a pairing operation toestablish a communications channel between the computer system (or oneor more other communicably connected devices) and the firstnon-provisioned device (e.g., entry 3 of the table 1200, FIG. 12B).Communications channels may be based on one or more communicationsprotocols common to the first non-provisioned device and the computersystem, or other communicably connected devices with which the firstnon-provisioned device is to be paired (e.g., wireless protocols, suchas IEEE 802.15.4, Wi-Fi, ZigBee, 6LoWPAN, Thread, Z-Wave, BluetoothSmart, ISA100.11a, WirelessHART, MiWi, etc.).

In some implementations, in response to establishing the communicationschannel between the computer system and the non-provisioned device (bycausing execution of the first set of instructions, step 1434), thecomputer system causes execution of a second set of executableinstructions corresponding to a subsequent stage in the softwareprocess. For example, data (e.g., information used for deviceregistration) is exchanged between the computer system and thenon-provisioned device, and subsequent stages of an installation processcommence, after a communications channel has been established.

In some implementations, the first set of executable instructionsincludes (1436) instructions for determining, based on the respectiveacoustic signature and information in the database, whether a respectivesoftware (or firmware) version of the first non-provisioned device isoutdated, and commencing a software update process in accordance with adetermination that the respective software (or firmware) version of thefirst non-provisioned device is outdated (e.g., entry 4 of the table1200, FIG. 12B). For example, the acoustic signature of a detectacoustic signal may both indicate a version of software installed on thefirst non-provisioned device, and may also correspond to instructions tocheck that the software version of the first non-provisioned device isup-to-date (e.g., by comparing the software version indicated by theacoustic signature against a retrieved database). If the softwareversion is outdated, a software update process is initiated (e.g., bydownloading, transmitting, and/or executing installation files).

In some implementations, after identifying (step 1424) and prior tocausing (step 1440) execution of the first set of executableinstructions, the identified first set of executable instructions isdownloaded (1438) from a remote server. For example, if the first set ofexecutable instructions corresponds to instructions to executeinstallation software, but the installation software is not storedlocally, the installation software is downloaded from a remote server(e.g., by the first non-provisioned device and/or the computer system).

After identifying the first non-provisioned device and the first set ofexecutable instructions, the computer system causes execution (1440) ofthe first set of executable instructions, thereby causing to commence asoftware process for provisioning the first non-provisioned device. Insome implementations, causing execution of the first set of executableinstructions comprises (1442) executing the first set of executableinstructions on the computer system (e.g., in provisioning a new cameradevice with a thermostat 102 in FIG. 10, the thermostat 102 executes thefirst set of instructions). Additionally and/or alternatively, causingthe execution of the first set of executable instructions comprises(1442) sending a command to the first non-provisioned device, whereinthe command causes the first non-provisioned device to execute the firstset of executable instructions (e.g., in FIG. 10, a command is sent bythe thermostat 102 to a camera device to be provisioned, triggering thecamera device to execute installation files stored in its memory).

Other Implementations of Tags and Acoustic Signals

Acoustic tags may also be used in the context of inventory trackingwithin an environment. For example, using acoustic tags to generateacoustic signals having predefined acoustic signatures, variousinventory statistics for goods may be monitored. Characteristics of anacoustic signature of an acoustic signal may be predefined foridentifying qualities of a product, such as a product brand,type/category (e.g., milk, vegetable, detergent), etc. In some cases, auser may tear a tag from a new product (e.g., a cereal box) that isbeing introduced into the household, where the acoustic signal generatedby the tag has a corresponding acoustic signature for incrementing acount for a given product (e.g., acoustic signature corresponding toinstructions to increment a count in a database for a particularproduct). Similarly, a separate (or the same tag) may be torn when theproduct has been fully consumed or used, where a generated acousticsignal has a corresponding acoustic signature for decrementing a countfor the product (e.g., acoustic signature corresponding to instructionsto decrement a count in a database). In this case, an optional alert mayalso be generated and provided to the user as a reminder to replenishthe inventory. As an additional feature, upon tearing the tag when aproduct has been fully consumed, the acoustic signature may also beassociated with executable instructions or script for automaticallyplacing an order for the product (e.g., through an online merchant). Asanother example, tags of a product may also be used to alert a user asto an expiration of a product. For example, a first tag may be torn whena food product is first introduced to inventory, and a second tag may betorn each time a user consumes the food product. Whether the foodproduct has expired may then be determined by comparing correspondingtimestamps for acoustic signals generated by the physical movement ofthe first and second tags (e.g., if time difference between acousticsignals for first and second tags exceeds a threshold, user is alertedas to potential expiration of the food product).

It should be understood that the particular order in which theoperations in FIGS. 13A-13C and 14A-14C have been described is merely anexample and is not intended to indicate that the described order is theonly order in which the operations could be performed. One of ordinaryskill in the art would recognize various ways to reorder the operationsdescribed herein. Additionally, it should be noted that details of otherprocesses described herein with respect to other methods and/orprocesses described herein are also applicable in an analogous manner tothe methods 1300 and 1400 described above with respect to FIGS. 13A-13Cand 14A-14C, respectively.

For situations in which the systems discussed above collect informationabout users, the users may be provided with an opportunity to opt in/outof programs or features that may collect personal information (e.g.,information about a user's preferences or usage of a smart device). Inaddition, in some implementations, certain data may be anonymized in oneor more ways before it is stored or used, so that personallyidentifiable information is removed. For example, a user's identity maybe anonymized so that the personally identifiable information cannot bedetermined for or associated with the user, and so that user preferencesor user interactions are generalized (for example, generalized based onuser demographics) rather than associated with a particular user.

Although some of various drawings illustrate a number of logical stagesin a particular order, stages that are not order dependent may bereordered and other stages may be combined or broken out. While somereordering or other groupings are specifically mentioned, others will beobvious to those of ordinary skill in the art, so the ordering andgroupings presented herein are not an exhaustive list of alternatives.Moreover, it should be recognized that the stages could be implementedin hardware, firmware, software or any combination thereof.

The foregoing description, for purpose of explanation, has beendescribed with reference to specific implementations. However, theillustrative discussions above are not intended to be exhaustive or tolimit the scope of the claims to the precise forms disclosed. Manymodifications and variations are possible in view of the aboveteachings. The implementations were chosen in order to best explain theprinciples underlying the claims and their practical applications, tothereby enable others skilled in the art to best use the implementationswith various modifications as are suited to the particular usescontemplated.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of detecting a state of monitoredobjects, comprising: at a computer system having one or more processorsand memory storing instructions for execution by the one or moreprocessors, wherein the computer system is communicably coupled to oneor more sensor devices: obtaining a database of stored acousticsignatures characterizing predefined acoustic signals generated bypassive tags in response to physical motion of respective monitoredobjects associated with the passive tags; detecting a first acousticsignal characterized by a respective acoustic signature and generated bya first one of the passive tags; and in response to the detecting: basedon the respective acoustic signature and information in the database:identifying a first monitored object associated with the respectiveacoustic signature; and determining a first state of the first monitoredobject; storing in the database the determined first state of the firstmonitored object; and providing an indication of the first state of thefirst monitored object to a monitoring service associated with the oneor more monitored objects.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the firstpassive tag comprises a material configured to generate the firstacoustic signal in response to physical contact when physically moved ina predetermined manner.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least someof the respective monitored objects associated with the passive tags areentryways of a premises.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifyingthe first monitored object and determining the first state of the firstmonitored object comprises: comparing one or more respectivecharacteristics of the respective acoustic signature of the firstacoustic signal with one or more respective characteristics of one ormore of the stored acoustic signatures from the database; andidentifying, from the one or more stored acoustic signatures from thedatabase, a matching acoustic signature that satisfies a matchcriterion, wherein the matching acoustic signature is associated withthe first monitored object and the first state of the first monitoredobject.
 5. The method of claim 1, wherein storing in the database thedetermined first state of the first monitored object comprises updatinga current state of the first monitored object from a previously storedstate to the determined first state, wherein the determined first stateand the previously stored state represent distinct states of the firstmonitored object.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising:detecting a second acoustic signal characterized by the same respectiveacoustic signature as the first acoustic signal, and generated by thefirst passive tag; in response to detecting the second acoustic signal,and based on the respective acoustic signature and information in thedatabase, identifying the first monitored object associated with therespective acoustic signature; and updating the current state of thefirst monitored object from the first state to the previously storedstate.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the first monitoredobject and/or determining the first state of the first monitored objectis further based on one or more additional inputs received from the oneor more sensor devices communicably coupled to the computer system. 8.The method of claim 7, wherein the one or more sensor devices include acamera device, and the one or more additional inputs include video dataassociated with the detected first acoustic signal.
 9. The method ofclaim 7, wherein the one or more additional inputs include currentpresence detection data associated with the detected first acousticsignal.
 10. The method of claim 7, wherein the one or more sensordevices include a thermostat device, and the one or more additionalinputs include temperature data associated with the detected firstacoustic signal.
 11. The method of claim 7, wherein the one or moresensor devices include an acoustic sensor, and the one or moreadditional inputs include additional acoustic data associated with thedetected first acoustic signal.
 12. The method of claim 7, wherein theone or more additional inputs include a user input confirming the firststate of the first monitored object.
 13. The method of claim 1, wherein:the one or more sensor devices are located within a premises, and thecomputer system is a remote server located outside of the premises; anddetecting the first acoustic signal comprises receiving, at the computersystem and from the one or more sensor devices, the first acousticsignal.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein acoustic signatures, whichinclude the stored acoustic signatures in the database and therespective acoustic signature of the first acoustic signal, arerespectively defined by one or more characteristics of acousticsignatures, the characteristics including at least one of: an acousticsignature length; one or more amplitude values; and one or more spectralcoefficients for one or more respective frequencies.
 15. The method ofclaim 14, wherein at least some of the stored acoustic signatures aredefined by one or more of the characteristics excluding amplitudevalues.
 16. The method of claim 14, wherein each or any combination ofthe one or more characteristics respectively defining the storedacoustic signatures is associated with: a respective object, a type ofobject, a state or change of state for a respective object, a state orchange of state for a respective type of object, and/or a location. 17.The method of claim 16, wherein a first one of the stored acousticsignatures is defined by respective one or more characteristics, therespective one or more characteristics being uniquely associated with aparticular object and a particular state of the particular object. 18.The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to obtaining thedatabase: creating one or more entries of the database, including:detecting the predefined acoustic signals, each of the predefinedacoustic signals characterized by a respective stored acousticsignature, and generated by a respective passive tag in response tophysical motion of a respective object associated with the respectivepassive tag; for each predefined acoustic signal that was detected,associating the respective stored acoustic signature with: therespective object; and a state of the respective object resulting fromthe physical motion of the respective object.
 19. A method of detectinga state of monitored objects, comprising: at a sensor device having oneor more first processors and first memory storing instructions forexecution by the one or more first processors, wherein sensor device iscommunicably coupled to a remote server: detecting a first acousticsignal characterized by a respective acoustic signature and generated bya first one of a plurality of passive tags; and at the remote serverhaving one or more second processors and second memory storinginstructions for execution by the one or more second processors:obtaining a database of stored acoustic signatures characterizingpredefined acoustic signals generated by the plurality of passive tagsin response to physical motion of respective monitored objectsassociated with the plurality of passive tags; and in response to thedetection of the first acoustic signal by the sensor device: based onthe respective acoustic signature and information in the database:identifying a first monitored object associated with the respectiveacoustic signature; and determining a first state of the first monitoredobject; storing in the database the determined first state of the firstmonitored object; and providing an indication of the first state of thefirst monitored object to a monitoring service associated with the oneor more monitored objects.
 20. A non-transitory computer-readablestorage medium storing one or more programs for execution by one or moreprocessors of a computer system, the one or more programs includinginstructions for: obtaining a database of stored acoustic signaturescharacterizing predefined acoustic signals generated by passive tags inresponse to physical motion of respective monitored objects associatedwith the passive tags; detecting a first acoustic signal characterizedby a respective acoustic signature and generated by a first one of thepassive tags; and in response to the detecting: based on the respectiveacoustic signature and information in the database: identifying a firstmonitored object associated with the respective acoustic signature; anddetermining a first state of the first monitored object; storing in thedatabase the determined first state of the first monitored object; andproviding an indication of the first state of the first monitored objectto a monitoring service associated with the one or more monitoredobjects.